Yes, Virginia, There Really Is An Iron Man
by Quicksilvermad
Summary: *ON HIATUS* Movie-verse, 1st movie: Pepper deals with Tony's newfound lease on life and ends up making a mountain out of her molehill of emotion where her boss is concerned.
1. Chapter 1

**TITLE: **Yes, Virginia, There Really Is An Iron Man  
**AUTHOR:** Quicksilvermad  
**SUMMARY:** Pepper deals with Tony's newfound lease on life and ends up making a mountain out of her molehill of emotion where her boss is concerned.  
**GENRE:** Humor/Romance  
**RATING:** T  
**PAIRING: **Tony/Pepper  
**DISCLAIMER:** _Iron Man _etc. belong to Marvel Comics et. al.  
**AUTHOR'S NOTE: **MOVIE-VERSE. I loved this movie. And I _really _wanted Tony and Pepper (well, "Virginia," really) to resolve that whole oozing tension thing.

**Chapter One:**

"The truth is… I _am_ Iron Man."

Pepper Potts immediately dropped her face into her palm. _Stick to the damn cards! How hard is that, Tony?_

The quiet reporters became one mass of flashing cameras and shouting voices to the point where Tony Stark just smiled guilelessly and ignored the seething look that Rhodey was giving him. Shrugging, Tony tore up the blue note cards and tossed them into the air before heading towards the door he'd just come in through. Rhodey could handle things from here.

Pepper was right on his heels.

"_Anthony_ Stark!"she shouted. Tony grinned to himself and kept on walking.

_"Virginia _Potts!" he mimicked—high pitch and facial expression included. They were heading for the elevator that lead to the garage, though Pepper was in too much of an angry haze to notice. "Are we going to do that entire first name thing again, Pepper, because I _know _you hate being called 'Virginia.' I would so win this argument we're about to have."

They both stepped into the elevator as it arrived. Tony pressed the button for the first level of the garage and yanked the knot out of his tie. Pepper crossed her arms and looked at a fixed point just beneath the security camera. She didn't even move until the elevator came to a stop—and when Tony headed for his car she followed with angry footsteps. Ones that would only make her feet hurt later—especially with the shoes she was wearing.

"Stick to the note cards—take no questions… How _hard _is it to do just that? " she muttered and paused by the passenger door of Tony's silver Audi—waiting while he unlocked everything.

"Not hard at all. And I didn't take the question—I was trying to shut her up."

"By _answering _her question?!"

Tony smothered a grin as Pepper jumped into the car and slammed her door. "You hungry?" he asked once he got settled behind the wheel.

"A little. I skipped breakfast and—hey! No!" she waved a finger in his face and buckled her seatbelt at the same time. "You do _not _get to change the subject."

"But I'm trying _really _hard. Look, it's not a big deal. How's IHOP sound?" he started the car and pulled out of the parking garage—moving seamlessly into the daily traffic.

Pepper blinked at him. "'Not a big deal?' Tony, people would, and will, kill to have that technology. Kill _you, _specifically."

Tony smiled reassuringly. "You're worried," he stated.

"Of _course _I'm worried. You have no idea what I went through when you…" memories flooded back to her and Pepper found herself looking out of the window at the moving traffic. She hadn't given up on the hope that Tony was alive and when he'd come back with _a hole in his chest_ she'd felt like someone had picked at an important thread in the tapestry of her mind and tugged. Things were unraveling.

Tony had grown quiet as well—memories of Yinsen and how he had actually made a _friend _with someone and how much it hurt to lose him, the physical and emotional pain he'd been in, the mental strain of being held captive by men who had guns _he himself _had designed—all of it was fresh again. Like a picked scab.

He kept driving, directing the car towards IHOP without thought.

"No, you're right. I _do _have no idea what you went through," Tony muttered quietly.

Pepper suddenly looked at him and could almost see what he was thinking just by the expression on his face. There was pain there—more than she had gone through.

"I'm sorry, Tony."

_And the argument winner is… Tony Stark!_

He hid his smile well. "It's okay, Pepper. You're allowed to worry. But _I'm _allowed to make my own decisions."

"You're right."

He pulled into a parking space a decent way from the door. "Okay, we're here."

She looked confused, then noticed the sign on the building in front of them. "IHOP?! Are you serious?"

Tony unbuckled his seatbelt and pushed the button on Pepper's. "Totally. I want French toast—you?"

Pepper gaped at her boss for a small moment—then gave into that unraveling tapestry thread and shrugged. "Why not," she muttered to herself. "It's called the 'International House Of Pancakes' for a reason. I want pancakes."

Tony Stark hopped out of the car with a sarcastic groan. "Where is the adventure in that?"

"I'll use three different types of syrup," Pepper answered once he joined her in step on the way to the entrance.

He hooked her arm through his. "Now _that_ is spontaneous."

**TBC**

_Please remember to review!_


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two:**

* * *

God, it felt great to be back home. And out of a suit. Tony had changed into a pair of worn in jeans and a T-shirt and was lounging sideways on the sofa with his remote in hand—ready to channel surf, He made a point to skip past the news channels as fast as possible as soon as he saw his own face. He ended up on the Discovery Channel and left it there. Then he told Jarvis to forward all phone calls to voice mail. He didn't want the phone ringing off the hook—Rhodey was no doubt feeling the need to harangue him within an inch of his life.

After lunch (an interesting affair, considering all of the shocked looks he got from the wait staff, the other customers, and the managers) Tony had driven Pepper to her house, told her to get some rest, and took the long way home to think.

Mainly about that practically backless blue dress he'd "bought her" for her birthday.

He still felt like an ass for forgetting it.

Absently, he tapped his free hand against the arc reactor that glowed through even his darkest T-shirt. He shifted on the sofa to lie facing the cushions and put less pressure on the ice packs that he had strapped to one of his shoulders and his sore shins. The pain relievers he'd taken with his French toast finally kicked in and drew the world into a cotton-coated place where nothing can bother you.

Tony closed his eyes and drifted.

He fell asleep and fell prey to the same nightmares he'd been having since he passed out with shrapnel lodged in his chest after the "fun-vee" was ambushed.

_A flash—too bright to stand looking at but his eyes were forced open by wind._

_A pop—his ears overloading as a cacophony of sound rattled his bones._

_Sulfur—gunpowder and caustic explosives. _

_Death._

_Sand._

_Heat._

_Falling from the sky like a stone._

_Legs that resembled rubber more than muscle._

_The heavy "thup thup thup" of helicopter blades._

_They don't stop in this nightmare. They keep going. They fly overhead without seeing him. He drops back to his knees in the sand and cries out. The pain in his chest grows sharper as the arc reactor slowly fails and shrapnel digs into his flesh with finality._

_He screams._

In the waking world, Tony Stark yelled and tugged at his shirt—ripping the fabric over his heart to look down at a fully functioning arc reactor.

"Sweet Jesus," he groaned.

There was noise in the kitchen and he knew it could only be one person.

"Tony?" she walked silently into the living room with a glass of water in one hand and a bottle of Excedrin in the other.

Tony dragged one hand through sweat-drenched hair and regarded Pepper with a worn smile. The make-up she had so meticulously used earlier to cover up the bruised side of his face had smudged in his sleep and he ended up looking like a disheveled little boy. She sat beside him on the sofa and handed him the water. With her hands free, she fished two pills from the bottle and shoved them at him.

"Take these."

He did.

"How many is that this week?"

"What, pills?"

Pepper gave him a look and Tony tried his best to evade it—hiding his eyes behind the rim of the glass.

"I don't know," he answered honestly. He wasn't one to keep track of how many times he fell asleep and had vivid nightmares. He stood suddenly and walked toward the stairwell that led to the basement. "I need to work on something."

Pepper stared at the bottle of Excedrin still in her hands and sighed.

"And I need your help again!" Tony shouted from the last step.

* * *

**TBC**

_Remember to review, please!_


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter Three:**

* * *

It was completely fascinating to watch Tony work on something. Whether it be a complicated device the size of an orange or one of his hot rods. He'd get so involved that he would sometimes forget Pepper was even in the room with him—instead speaking to Jarvis or himself as he gathered what he needed.

The shop was a mess.

Pepper dipped to the floor and scooped up something among the broken glass and strewn papers. It was a metal base and a circular ring with the words: "Proof that Tony Stark has a heart" engraved in it.

The redhead set the object on a shelf behind her, sat in one of the many chairs that littered the room, and waited patiently as her boss worked.

For over two hours.

Her mind wandered—mentally going over Tony's schedule for the next week. Eventually, her eyes began to wander over her boss as well.

Pepper stared at the torn section of Tony's shirt.

There it was.

His deft fingers were busy rebuilding this contraption—with a few improvements he discussed with Jarvis.

She never understood how Tony programmed the AI so that it could be sarcastic…

"So I'm here to plug you in again?" she guessed.

Tony looked up from his work with a guilty face. He remembered what she'd said before and she seemed quite genuine about it. "Only if it's okay with you," he said.

Pepper's eyebrows dipped. "Why wouldn't it be?"

He gave her a look and mimicked her response from the last time: "'Don't ever, ever, ever ask me to do anything like that ever again.' Something like that—remember?"

"Well I was kind of disgusted… There was pus and it smelled and— Tony, I could have killed you!"

"A, it wasn't pus. B, yes, I will admit it did smell awful. And C… No."

"'No?!'" Pepper repeated.

"Hu-uh."

"No."

"Right."

She heaved a relieved sigh. "No," she smiled.

"Okay, now is that an answer or are you still repeating me?" Tony asked—the glimmer of a smile shining in his eyes.

"I-I was…" Pepper rolled her eyes. "Still repeating." She heaved a breath like a track runner getting ready for a race. "Okay. What do I do?"

He swept some debris off the same chair he'd been reclining in that time he'd asked if she had small hands and hopped up into it like an eager kid. He yanked his shirt off and attached the monitors to his chest. "Jarvis, could you turn on the EKG?"

The screen flared to life and displayed his heart rate.

"Thank you," Tony pointed at the desk he'd been working at. "Grab the new one, would you?"

Pepper carefully held the arc reactor in both hands and watched it glow almost dreamily. Tony grinned at her expression, unseen by her, and twisted his chest piece counter-clockwise. There was a snapping noise and he pulled the older model out of the socket.

"Oh-kay, Miss Potts… If you could be so kind and reach on in there—I know it's not a copper wire, but still… Don't let the leads touch the sidewalls, remember?"

Pepper gave him a sharp look. "I remember, _Mr. _Stark."

Tony grinned again and watched her delicately fold her hand into a cone-shape before she reached inside his chest and unplugged the old unit from its base plate. She managed to keep from shocking him this time.

She still looked rather disgusted, but kept her running mental commentary to herself. Tony watched her face and decided he wasn't about to tell her that he now had a limited amount of time to actually _stay alive_. He wouldn't tell her about that _ever._

"Okay, good—same drill, plug me in and then turn it clockwise until you hear it click."

Pepper did as he asked—much calmer and gentler than last time. "Want this back in the display?"

Tony slid out of the chair, handed her a rag to wipe her hands on, and took a cleansing breath. The modifications he'd made certainly did cut down on the pain factor. "Oh, hell yes," he said. "That thing saved my life twice now. Thanks, by the way."

He was so blasé about the whole thing that something snapped inside Pepper. She managed to calmly replace his old unit in the display before turning on him.

"Tony, I need you to stop it."

He frowned and removed the leads from his chest. "What are you talking about?"

"'It,' 'this,' whatever it is that keeps you from realizing that you should be dead," she held her breath after saying the last bit—the sensation tears she'd shed when he was first reported missing reemerged and stung her eyes.

There was a moment of such complete silence that even the ever moving machinery had stopped.

Tony suddenly turned and grabbed Pepper by the arm. She squeaked in surprise as he dragged her to sit in the chair he'd just vacated. "I _know _I should be dead. I should have been dead months ago, Virginia. But I'm not. And the man who saved me _is._ I act the way that I do because if I don't I will constantly be thinking about how things _should have been."_

A tear slipped out of Pepper's tenuous control and streamed down her cheek. Idly, with his free hand, Tony gently wiped it away.

He was still holding her arm and the intensity of what he needed to say had him almost leaning into her. "If it weren't for Yinsen, I'd be in a ditch somewhere in Afghanistan with shrapnel lodged in my heart. If I don't make light of it, they'll get worse," he let slip out.

Pepper gently laid a hand on his collar bone—just above the chest plate. "The nightmares."

Tony closed his eyes and allowed himself to lean into her touch just a little bit.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Pepper offered.

Tony swallowed the lump forming in his throat and slid into the chair beside her—resting his forehead against the headrest so that his mouth was right beside her ear. The position was comfortable, but still had Pepper feeling nervous and unsure. Tony wasn't usually this touchy with her. At least, he wasn't _before._ Something else changed in him during his stint as a hostage.

"They're always about… Well, no. Not always…"

His breath hummed across the side of her neck and Pepper reached up to grip at his right arm—banded across her waist.

"Sand and death. Sometimes I get stuck in a memory and say the wrong thing and Yinsen has his eyes burned out with a hot coal. Sometimes the second generator doesn't work and either I die or I make it out of there but I have to carry a car battery with me everywhere. Sometimes the helicopters come, but they don't recognize me and I get shot. Sometimes they just fly overhead and leave me and I die."

Tony held Pepper tighter. "And sometimes… Sometimes you're there and I do what they ask because they say they'll kill you. And you always hate me in those nightmares. Always spit on me as soon as I hand over their missiles…"

Pepper tightened her grip on his arm briefly and snaked her trapped hand from his collar bone to the back of his neck in a weird sort of hug.

"Yinsen told me he had a family waiting for him and when he said that… the only person I could think of was you. He told me they were dead when he was dying and I knew… I knew I had to get out of there—I had to live."

"Because I'm all you've got," Pepper whispered.

Tony shifted again—pressing his mouth lightly against the shell of her ear. "And I'm all you've got," he whispered back.

* * *

**TBC**

_Remember to review—and to those of you who have, thank you _so very _much. _


	4. Chapter 4

_AN: I am so incredibly sorry that this is as short as it is…_

**Chapter Four:**

Pepper didn't dare breathe for almost a full minute until Tony shifted beside her and dragged his aching left hand down into her hair.

"You're going to turn purple," he commented.

Pepper breathed in through her nose. Mistake number one.

She was immediately submersed in Tony's very masculine smell—motor oil, clean shampoo and aftershave.

He tightened his arm around her waist unconsciously as she tipped her head further into his palm. He couldn't stop his eyes from dancing across her face—taking in every freckle and cataloging the details of her smooth skin in his mind. Her eyes were aimed at the ceiling and Tony advantageously stared at their color and depth.

For a brief moment, Pepper bravely looked Tony in the eye and what she saw there shocked her.

She had never seen him look at anyone like that before. Gone were the usual restraints he inflicted upon himself and all that was left was a complete warmth of total trust and admiration.

She really was all he had.

Out of all the people surrounding him, Pepper was the only one who truly saw _him _when she looked at him. She didn't see the billionaire, the (former) playboy, the old friend, or the "merchant of death." She saw _him. _Pepper was the single person in the universe that Tony could really be _himself _around.

He rested his forehead against her temple and made the same mistake she had in breathing in. Strawberry shampoo, light lotion, and _woman_ had him resting his nose on her cheek—his lips inches from the thrumming pulse in her neck.

Pepper turned in his arms and shifted lower on the chair—resting her face in the crook of his neck and robbing him of the sensation of skin against skin he'd been enjoying. Yet, at the same time, granting him more of it as her arm pressed against his naked abdomen. Her right hand was trapped between them—fingers curled in relaxation and in the perfect position for Tony to bend slightly at the neck and kiss.

So he did.

Her opposite hand tightened against his bare side.

"This is scaring you, isn't it?" Tony murmured against her fingers.

"A… A little," Pepper stammered.

Tony held back a shiver as her breath conjured up goose bumps on every inch of his exposed skin. He shifted again and pressed his lips against her forehead. "Do you want me to let go?" he asked—his heart in his throat.

The husky sound of Tony's voice went straight to the part of Pepper's brain that said: "Sweet, merciful Christ" and literally reverberated through her frame.

"Maybe," she lied—barely above a whisper. "No. Thi-this is, um… Fine."

"It's fine," she repeated herself—surely this time as she dragged her free hand through his hair.

They spent a long moment just staring into each other's eyes. There was that moment they had denied themselves on the balcony… Leaning closer they shared air and tried not to blink. One blink could ruin the moment—stop this from happening…

_"Sir?" _A melodious British tinted voice interrupted from every hidden speaker in the workshop. They stopped. _"Colonel Rhodes has been knocking on the front door for quite some time now…"_ Jarvis informed.

Pepper shot out of the chair and practically ran upstairs.

Tony closed his eyes and groaned. "Jarvis?"

_"Yes, sir?"_

"Next time it's just me and Pepper in here, _don't_ interrupt."

_"Of course, sir." _

Had Jarvis a face, Tony would bet his life's savings that the AI had been smirking.

**TBC**

_Remember to review—and to those of you who have, thank you _so very _much. _


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter Five:**

* * *

James Rhodes finally had had enough and came pounding on Tony's front door—where he'd been standing for the past _ten minutes_. His knuckles were starting to hurt…

"TONY!" he shouted. "Get your ass up here and _open the door _so I can yell at you face to face!"

Surprisingly, the door opened. Tony, also shockingly, looked guilty. "Get in here," he stepped to the side and allowed his oldest friend to breeze past him. "Pepper, how about some coffee?"

Rhodey looked back at the redhead (suspiciously blushing) and watched her nod as if everything was just hunky-dory. It was like she'd never even been pissed at her boss for deviating from the whole "stick-to-the-cards" plan and Rhodes wondered just what the hell Tony said to her to change her mind.

"Rhodey, I'm sorry."

Rhodes had to sit down. He almost missed the edge of the sofa and gaped at Tony in disbelief. "_What?!"_

"I'm sorry. I just… I couldn't…" Tony dropped beside him and groaned into his hands. "It was a stupid thing to say and I shouldn't have even dignified what's-her-face with a response. I mean, 'not taking any questions' is kind of a big hint to shut up, right? And it's not like I couldn't have _ignored her _and just read the freakin' cards… So I'm saying 'sorry' for being a moron," he rambled. Tony Stark _rambled_ and flailed his hands about.

Pepper returned from the kitchen with, somehow, three mugs of coffee. As always, she remembered that James took his with enough sugar to turn it into a solid and Tony took his black. Rhodes sipped at the coffee for a moment before resting a hand on Tony's shoulder. "It's fine, Tony. The guys from SHIELD came right in and said some bureaucratic double-speak that basically got you in the clear. I say 'basically' because you know how reporters are. You said you were Iron Man, and they're going to run with it.

"Coulson mentioned something about PTSD—" Rhodes gave Tony a pointed look. "I think they might have had something there with that," he added.

"What, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder?"

"No, People That Suck D—"

"Hey!" Tony held a hand up. "There's a lady in the room…" he stage whispered.

Pepper smiled into her coffee.

"Tony, you've—"

"I've changed since the last time you had to watch what I said. You already know this. Who's to say it's not for the better?"

Rhodes took in the serious expression on Tony's face and noted the already darkening bruise on his cheekbone, the cut on his nose, the slice in his right eyebrow, and the way he avoided using his left hand.

"Who's to say it's not for the worse where your health is considered?"

"Rhodey…"

"Seriously, when I found you last night…"

"That won't happen again," Tony assured—a dark determination had entered his eyes along with the silent order to _never _tell Pepper what happened to him.

Drinking his super-sweet coffee, Rhodes found himself agreeing with Tony. "I'll buy that. And I'll agree that some of the change is good. But Tony, I am _making_ you see a military psychiatrist to get some of this other crap out. I know you haven't moved on, Tony. The board of directors are with me in this decision—you will still be in charge, but you need to fix yourself."

He noted that Pepper looked like she was fighting the urge to grab Tony and force him into nodding.

She didn't need to. "Fine. I'll talk to a shrink," Tony shrugged.

Rhodey finished his coffee. "And I'm making you see someone about that hand."

Tony made an "awe-shucks" face and sighed. "Yes, mother."

"I'll see myself out," Rhodey said with a sideways smile. He gave Tony's shoulder a brotherly squeeze.

He left his empty cup on the giant petrified wood tree stump that served as a coffee table. "And I'll have them send a car around to take you to your appointments," he added as he crossed the large room and opened the front door. "Bright and early tomorrow."

Tony groaned into his coffee cup as the front door all but slammed shut. "I hate shrinks," he grumbled.

"I'll cancel all of your other appointments for tomorrow."

Tony looked at Pepper in shock. "I had appointments? Who with?"

Pepper pulled her Blackberry out of her hip holster like some kind of modern age gunslinger and scrolled through Tuesday. "An interview with Karen Roberts from CNN about Arc technology, A speech to the freshman class at MIT, both are pre-written… Then there was a meeting with Stark Industries' European branch in Manchester. And Agent Phil Coulson from SHIELD called. I think there might be a chance he wanted to yell at you."

Tony muttered something rude and sipped his coffee.

"Then there's a charity dinner auction in the evening on Friday night. Um, it's for children and they say that they're holding it earlier this year. They wanted your RSVP as soon as possible. It's usually a Christmas event."

Pepper looked up from her Blackberry to see Tony grin. "Child's Play? The video game thing?" he asked.

"Uh, yeah."

"Don't cancel that. I love going to that. You should come, too."

Pepper smirked. "Is that your weird way of asking me to go with you?"

Tony shrugged. "Yeah, I guess it is."

"Okay."

"Okay?"

"That's right."

Tony suddenly looked a bit like a teenaged boy who just asked his favorite girl to the prom. He bit his lower lip and smiled.

* * *

**TBC**

_Remember to review—and to those of you who have, thank you _so very _much. _


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter Six:**

* * *

Pepper was Tony's alarm clock in the morning—breezing into his bedroom, yanking the top sheet off the bed and clearing her throat in a way that will wake someone up far better than a blaring alarm or Jarvis turning the shades off and announcing the time and weather.

"It's after nine o'clock, Mr. Stark," Pepper declared.

Tony sat up and popped a tense vertebrae in his neck. "Ugh."

Pepper walked over to his huge closet and pulled out one of his Hugo Boss suits and a pair of his favorite "dressy" sneakers. "Red or white shirt today?" she asked.

Tony looked down at the brightly glowing arc reactor on his chest and pouted a little. "Might as well go with red."

Pepper gathered socks, a sleeveless undershirt and a pair of boxers and laid the ensemble out on the empty side of his bed. "The car will be here by nine-twenty, so I suggest you shower fast, Mr. Stark."

"Yes, _Miss Potts,"_ Tony mocked and tugged at the waistband of his pajama pants as he rolled out of bed. Pepper mentally catalogued the darkening bruises on his back and abs. They weren't looking any better. Thinking on that…

"Tony, remember to use some of that Blue Emu stuff after your shower."

He made a face at her over his shoulder before he closed the bathroom door.

Pepper finished gathering all of Tony's usual effects and dropped them with his clothing. She went about her regular morning routine downstairs—deleted all of last night's messages (all of them were Rhodey shouting his disapproval and demanding that Tony answer his phone), and poured coffee into Tony's to-go cup.

A rather loud annoyed groan interrupted her.

"Pepper, I need some help… _Again,_" he chimed in through the intercom.

"Coming," she said quickly and took the steps two at a time.

Tony was in his slacks and sneakers and holding out the jar of Blue Emu with a frustrated look on his face. "I can't reach around to my back. My arms still feel like someone decided to run them over a couple times…"

This statement was not entirely too far from the truth.

Pepper sighed, placed the to-go mug on his dresser and took the jar from him. "Turn around," she ordered.

Tony pivoted and waited patiently as his assistant rubbed the blue concoction (which, at fifteen bucks a jar, actually _did _relieve muscle and bruise pain) between her palms before running her fingers across his back. She wasn't aware of the look on Tony's face as she did this, and he couldn't be more thankful. He felt entirely too tempted with the thought of taking her in his arms and finishing what was interrupted last night.

Her touch felt fantastic.

She rubbed at a knot between his shoulder and his neck and moved those petite hands of hers back down his practically blackish-purple back. It was good. Too good.

This was getting out of hand.

An uncomfortable lump was forming in Tony's throat and he desperately wanted to clear it but was afraid to ruin the moment with any noise (again).

Pepper's hands disappeared. "All finished," she announced.

Tony turned around and watched her curiously as she wiped the excess cream across his bruised cheek.

He swallowed the lump and breathed shallowly through his nose as he let his eyes wander across her face.

She looked sad.

"Got things to do today?" he asked quietly. Pepper slowly dropped her hand from his face—the tips of her fingers ghosted across his goatee and she took one step back.

"Actually, no—besides finding a dress for the benefit Friday—"

"Wear the blue one."

"—I… What?"

Tony was halfway through tucking in his undershirt. "The blue dress. You know, the one 'I' bought you for your birthday."

He shrugged into the dark red oxford shirt she picked out for him and started to button it up.

"But I already wore that to a benefit."

"So? Is this a girl thing? Because I've worn the same suit to like, a billion different things," he shrugged and tucked the tails of his shirt into his slacks. He left the top three buttons of the shirt undone and tugged on the corners of the collar.

"I-I don't… Know," Pepper hesitated and crossed her arms—looking fixedly at his neck. Anything to avoid his eyes and that sly little smile that she knew he was beginning to give.

"it's fine, go ahead and go shopping while I get my head shrunk. Hogan can drive you," Tony reached out and gently nudged one of her crossed elbows. "Car's here, right?"

Pepper nodded and watched him pull his blazer on and fiddle with his watch.

"Okay. Go spend my money. Get shoes and all that jazz," Tony smiled in a way he only saved for her, ran his fingers through his hair (mussing it up so that it fell across his forehead attractively), and took the coffee from his dresser.

Before Pepper could do anything about it, Tony leaned forward and brushed a swift kiss across her cheek. "I'll see you later, Pepper."

She had to clear her throat. "Bye, Tony."

Pepper didn't move until she head the front door close.

"Ugh!" she yanked at her hair and stamped her feet like a frustrated teenager. She was confused, irritated, and feeling unsure about herself.

She was breathing hard after her hissy fit and channeled the energy into making Tony's bed. Pepper found herself calming once she replaced the pillows he'd knocked onto the floor during the night. The only one that had remained was practically flat in the center—proof of how hard her boss was mashing his face into it in his sleep.

She ran her hand along the dent and slowed down. The clean smell of the shampoo Tony used was subtle but there.

It was a very pleasant smell.

Pepper had to squelch the primal urge to bury her nose in the pillow.

* * *

**TBC**

_Remember to review—and to those of you who have, thank you _so very _much. I mean, over 100! And I'm not even halfway done yet! I love you guys._


	7. Chapter 7

_AN: 120 reviews?! I love you guys so much. And I'm so glad that you're enjoying this!_

**Chapter Seven:**

* * *

He kept his sunglasses on.

That was the first thing that really gave Dr. Horowitz a hint about how Tony's mind worked. He was still hiding behind things—clothing, sunglasses… Metal suits (if the papers were to be believed).

Dr. Horowitz cleared his throat and flipped through the file on his desk. "It says here that you refused medical attention on your return to the States."

"That's true. I had about five cheeseburgers instead. Have you ever been held hostage for three months?"

Horowitz crossed his legs and looked pointedly at the man sitting on the sofa across from him. "No, Mr. Stark, I have not been held hostage."

Tony sighed in an entirely disappointed sounding way. "Hm," he brought his right hand up and scratched at his goatee.

Sensing Tony's reluctance to speak, Horowitz uncrossed his legs and leaned forward—hooking his ledger in the crook of his elbows and resting his chin on his fists. "But I _have _helped many soldiers suffering from PTSD return to civilian life after their tour of duty, Mr. Stark."

Tony finally removed his sunglasses and scrubbed a hand through his hair. "Okay…" he thought for a moment and Rhodey's concerned face came to mind. Granted, there were many times he'd gotten in situations that had his friend upset, but the look in Jim Rhodes' eyes when he picked him up out of the desert was one that truly stuck with him.

_Next time, you ride with me, okay?_

"I'm assuming that my statements are also in that file you've got on your blotter…"

"They are. But I'd rather hear it from you."

"Fine," he sighed. Tony shifted on the sofa and wrinkled his nose. "Sometimes I can't sleep. I usually end up switching to the floor or sleeping on a cot I hid in my garage. That's all I had there…"

He paused, stared at the ceiling, and chewed at the inside of his lower lip.

"All _we _had. We took shifts. To keep track of the days. Yinsen took the odd days with the cot and I'd take the even days."

Horowitz said nothing. Tony surmised that this was part of his method—get the patient talking so that all the hidden crap was revealed. He wasn't wrong.

He threw one arm across his eyes and slumped onto his back. "Uh… I asked him if he had family. He lied. Well, sort of. Said he did have family waiting for him. I didn't read enough into it to get that he meant a different sort of waiting… He asked me if I had anyone and…"

Pepper's face—patient and sweet—swam in his mind's eye as it had months ago when Yinsen brought the subject of loved ones up.

"I guess I lied, too," Tony admitted. "I didn't have 'nothing.' Just… Just one person," he held up one finger to indicate this much.

"Why did you lie?" Horowitz asked. His voice was like a soothing vapor that slid across the room and Tony found himself truly relaxing for the first time in ages.

"I still don't know. Maybe I didn't realize it then," Tony shrugged with one shoulder. "You know, I get these nightmares all the time—about dying. About different ways that it could have happened or what I could have done. Disappointing her."

Horowitz leaned back and wrote Tony's statement in his ledger. "Who do you mean by 'her?'"

"Hm?"

"Who's your 'one person?'"

Tony's lips moved into a quick, almost imperceptible smile. "My assistant, Pepper," he grew quiet. "She's all I've got."

Horowitz leaned forward in his chair again. "Have you told her this since your return?"

"Yeah. Twice."

"And?"

"It's made things a bit… Weird… Between us. I've changed." _Not to mention, I keep kissing her… What the hell _was _that this morning? I didn't even think, just… Felt like I should do it._

Horowitz made a few more notes in Tony's file and then clasped his hands together—elbows planted on his knees. "I've noticed."

"Pardon?"

"Mr. Stark, before your kidnapping you were quite the playboy."

"This is true."

"And now how do you feel about that?"

Tony dropped his arm and stared up at the ceiling again. He didn't answer. Not that he had to. Dr. Horowitz could see that Mr. Stark was not pleased with his former behavior and made note of it.

"Mr. Stark, I think you need to address this personality change. You have been hiding behind the façade of a playboy and now that this false image of yourself has withered away, you need to focus on what has been revealed. You need to stop hiding—stop sleeping on a cot you hid in your garage… When you can't sleep, Mr. Stark, I want you to either call me on my cell phone or call your Pepper."

_Your Pepper…_ rang through Tony's mind for a few minutes.

"Can you promise me that you'll do that?" Horowitz asked in that comforting vapor-voice.

Tony sat up and thought for a moment about his home and how cold, quiet, and cave-like it could often be. No wonder he couldn't sleep well. He sighed and ran a hand through his hair—letting it fall into his eyes. "I'll do it."

Horowitz smiled genially and motioned with his hands that they were done for now. He placed his ledger on top of Tony's file and stood.

Tony replaced his sunglasses and stood as well.

"I'm glad you came to see me, Mr. Stark," Horowitz said.

He held out his hand.

Tony shook it and smiled slightly—still feeling the strange urge to remain in the warm room with the doctor's comforting presence. If he left he'd be alone again... "Catch you later," he carelessly tossed over his shoulder as he left.

* * *

**TBC**

_Remember to review—and to those of you who have, thank you _so very _much. _


	8. Chapter 8

_AN: Sorry for the shortness. _

**Chapter Eight:**

* * *

Edwards Air Force Base was like any other—spread out all over kingdom come, buildings that were related on completely opposite ends of said kingdom, and a complete nightmare to navigate.

They arrived to Tony's appointment precisely on time. Tony ignored the fact that the nurse on duty was trying her best to flirt with him and was directed (rudely once she noticed her advances were about as effective as a wet match) to room 602 where the businessman and the military escort waited. After twenty minutes of chit-chat and an argument over which Mel Brooks movie was the best, Dr. Davis finally showed up late to the examination he was supposed to be giving Tony. As per usual where military hospitals are concerned.

Dr. Davis (a captain, actually) started taking Tony's vitals without so much as a "how do you do." Ears, nose, throat, eyes, blood pressure… Then out came the stethoscope.

Tony gave a half-hearted attempt to warn the doctor about his heart, then decided the bastard deserved an ear ache for taking so long to show up.

Davis propped the bell of the stethoscope against the left side of Tony's chest beneath his shirt and gave an involuntary yelp as the low hum of the device keeping Tony alive was drilled into his eardrums.

After a moment of pain, Dr. Davis popped the stethoscope out of his ears and forced a yawn to get his hearing working properly again. The arc reactor was pretty damn loud when it was amplified like that—like feedback from a microphone.

"Oh-kay… What seems to be the problem with the hand, Mr. Stark?" Davis asked, immediately grabbing Tony's left hand and probing it harshly with his thumb and forefinger. Even _if _his hand was fine the action would still really hurt. As it was, Tony let out an painful shout.

"Jesus wept! A little warning would be nice…"

"Right, let's get you down to radiology and take a few shots of this. What were you doing when it happened?"

Tony remembered holding his hand outward, realizing he was missing a glove, and smashing that same hand somewhere between getting shot at by Obadiah and nearly falling in through the ceiling as Pepper overloaded the reactor.

"Uh… No comment."

Dr. Davis ushered him out of room 602 and down the hallway. "If you're going to make this harder, Mr. Stark—"

"No, I really can't, uh, comment. Colonel Rhodes will probably beat the crap out of me for mouthing off more than once in a week."

The X-rays took forever, as usual, and Tony and his new friend (Tom Yarrow, his hospital escort and driver for the day) tried to convince one another why _Blazing Saddles _was superior to _History of the World Part I _and vise-versa_._

Dr. Davis returned with the X-rays just in time to hear the tag end of Tony's rant.

"…Oh come on! A guy punching a horse totally beats synchronized swimming nuns."

Tom curled his upper lip and shook his head. "Two words, Mr. Stark. Giant. Joint."

The doctor interrupted by loudly closing the door behind him. Davis clipped the X-rays to the light box on the wall and flipped the switch. "Mr. Stark, if you please…" he pointed with his little finger (something that irked Tony for no good reason) at the neatly lined up bones that lead up to his knuckles.

"You've actually got several minute fractures in your third and fourth metacarpals. There are no shifted bones or fragments, which means you lucked out of surgery but you're going to need to wear a brace for six weeks and I want you to avoid using your left hand. Though I do want you to do some fist exercises each day."

"Huh," Tony stared open-mouthed at the dark lines that cut through the bones that lead up to the middle and ring finger of his see-through hand.

Absently, he reached into his wallet and pulled out a hundred dollar bill. "You win," he handed it to Tom.

"Told you," Tom stage whispered as he pocketed the cash.

Dr. Davis ignored this entire exchange to the best of his ability and dug around through one of the drawers for a hand brace. When he found one he tore open the cardboard box and grabbed Tony's hand again. He wasn't gentle at all when he arranged Tony's palm in the brace and velcro-ed the straps.

Once he was finished with that, Davis grabbed a prescription pad and scribbled something in that handwriting that only fellow doctors and pharmacists can read. "I'm putting you on 50mg of Demerol. Take one every morning with food and it should take the edge off the pain. If you get to feeling too woozy on 50mg, cut the pills in half."

He slapped the paper in Tony's right hand and headed for the door. Without turning around he said, "Have a pleasant day, Mr. Stark."

Tony looked down at the scrip in his hand and then to Tom.

"Not fair," Tom joked.

A slow grin broke across Tony's face and he was unable to hold back a sharp laugh.

* * *

**TBC**

_Remember to review—and to those of you who have, thank you _so very _much. _


	9. Chapter 9

_AN: Sorry for the shortness. Again. And the delay._

**Chapter Nine:**

* * *

Pepper chewed at her lower lip as she stared at the racks of dresses before her. It was the same boutique she'd bought her last dress at, but she wasn't entirely sure what would be appropriate. It didn't quite help that Happy was lounging in the doorway waiting for her to finish up.

Her eyes kept falling back on a mid-thigh length green number.

_Semi-formal—no jeans. Black tie welcome. Show off to your peers!_ The memo had read.

Was it_ too_ dressy?

What would people think—seeing her arrive with Tony dressed like that?

Would Tony think she was trying for something?

_Was _she trying for something?

"Miss Potts?"

Pepper was jolted out of her ruminations as a sales associate appeared at her elbow.

"Oh my God," she propped a hand against her racing heart. "You scared me!"

"Sorry," the young girl said. Pepper quickly placed her as the girl who rang up the blue dress last time. Thankfully, she wore a name tag.

"No, it's fine, Teresa. I've just been spacing out lately."

"Kind of like your boss?" Teresa jibed in what she thought was good humor.

Pepper's initial response, however, was to feel insulted on Tony Stark's behalf. "_Excuse _me?!"

Teresa backed away.

Without breaking her searing eye contact, Pepper jabbed a finger at the tantalizing green dress. "I need that in a size two, thank you."

She stalked toward the register and waited impatiently—tapping the edge of Tony's credit card against the lacquered pine. Happy got up from his propped position and stood beside her—watching the sales girl fish a size two off the rack with one of the wall hooks used for the unfortunately vertically challenged.

"You're gonna need shoes," Happy remarked.

Pepper mentally cursed herself and sighed. "Would you wait here, Happy?"

"No problem."

She practically ran to the shoe section and scanned the rows for anything green. There were two pair left—some glittery roach killers and a pair peep-toes with ankle ribbons. Thank God they came in her size.

Pepper grabbed the second pair and wrinkled her nose at the other, ultra-pointed, shoes.

At the register, Teresa the sales girl was refusing to look up from the computer readout.

"These too," Pepper dropped the shoes on the counter.

"That'll be 6,789.56…"

Pepper handed over the gold card and paid. She left the boutique with less than charitable thoughts toward ignorant shop girls. Once outside, Happy took her bags and carefully placed them in the trunk of the Mercedes before opening the back door for her.

"You wanna head home, Miss Potts?"

"I suppose…"

Happy rounded the car and got in the driver's seat. Before starting the engine, he turned in the chair to catch Pepper's eye. "Don't let it get to you," he advised.

He turned around and started driving to her house.

Pepper went back to chewing her lower lip. She couldn't help feeling incensed by the thought that the public saw Tony as a bit of a mental case since his kidnapping. Even after his confession last night she was still mostly in the dark about what happened to him.

She did know that they had tortured him.

Not because he told her, but by the marks she had seen on him on the early days of his return. She had even been the second person to see the magnet that was keeping him alive…

While waiting in the drive through for his Burger King order, Tony had rolled up the privacy window for a moment and showed her. It was still inflamed and slightly infected in some spots and Pepper remembered clamping a hand over her mouth to stifle the cry of shock that wanted to escape.

_"Hey—it's okay,"_ he'd said—buttoning his shirt again and straightening his tie. He'd touched her elbow then—even though every bone in Pepper's body wished he would pull her across the seat and hug the breath out of her. The look in his eyes, however warbled it was by her gathering tears, was so reassuring that she nodded weakly and wiped at her eyes before anything incriminating could run down her face.

_It's okay._

No, Tony, it was not "okay."

Pepper dropped her face into her hands and breathed deeply to stem back a surge of tears.

"Hey," Happy interjected.

Pepper looked up and met his eyes in the rear-view mirror. He smiled at her.

"No crying, Miss Potts. I don't allow any crying in my car."

She laughed feebly and leaned back against the seat. "It's not your car, Happy."

"It is when _I _drive it. So no crying."

Pepper smiled. "If you say so."

* * *

**TBC**

_Remember to review—and to those of you who have, thank you _so very _much. _


	10. Chapter 10

_AN: Sorry for the _extreme _shortness. Again. And the delay. I've been really sick for the past two weeks. Being sick means I can't stand looking at the computer screen... Which means I actually got more drawings done while I was under the weather. winks Those will be up as soon as I finish inking and scan them._

**Chapter Ten:**

* * *

Tom Yarrow was sure he was going to get a cramp in his stomach muscles as he tried to hold in his laughter. Tony Stark was high as a kite on his 50mg tablet of Demerol and needed physical help to get inside his Malibu estate.

For almost the eighth day in a row, Tony had skipped lunch (the French toast at IHOP barely counted).

The narcotic went straight to his head.

Tom helped him with the lock pad on the door and ushered him inside.

"Jarvis? Could you put _Blazing Saddles _on the living room TV? I need to show Tom here why it's the best Mel Brooks movie."

Jarvis hesitated—as he often did for some reason. "_Of course, sir."_

The TV came to Dolby Surround Sound life and Tony fell bonelessly onto his huge sofa.

"Mr. Stark, I can't stay. Colonel Rhodes needs me in about fifteen minutes."

Tony actually pouted and tried to prop himself up on one arm. Tried to. He flopped over instead. "Dude, that sucks."

Tom gave Tony's back a few hearty thumps and grinned. "Well, it was a pleasure driving you today, Mr. Stark."

"Stop it with that "mister" crap."

Tom grinned. "I'll see you later, Tony."

He left. Tony swam in his own head for a moment. "Jarvis? What time is it?"

_"It's five o'clock, sir."_

"When's the charity thingy?"

_"It starts at 9:30PM. On Friday. It's Tuesday, sir."_

Tony yawned and got a mouthful of throw pillow. "Call Pepper."

Jarvis turned off the movie that was still playing and Tony was lulled further into la-la land with the sound of a ringing telephone.

"Pepper Potts," she answered after four rings—odd for her. She usually picked up her calls after the first nanosecond of her ringtone started.

"They gave me Demerol."

"Tony?"

"Hand's got some broken bones so they gave me Demerol. And I kinda forgot to eat lunch. Again."

"You're…" she paused—he got the distinct mental image of her pulling her cell away from her ear and giving the device a "frowny face." It made him laugh out loud. "Are you high?" Pepper asked.

"Mm-hmm…"

"Oh God."

Tony grinned. "Damn, that sounded fantastic. Do it again?"

"Tony, I'm coming over with some food, okay? You need to eat something."

"Have you ever seen _Blazing Saddles?"_

"What?"

"Mel Brooks movie."

"Tony, just hush up and wait for me, okay?"

He buried his nose into the throw pillow. "M'kay."

Several blocks away, Pepper Potts grabbed a jar of Jiffy, a loaf of Wonder Bread, and a bag of snack-sized Snicker's bars along with her car keys.

* * *

**TBC**

_Remember to review—and to those of you who have, thank you _so very _much. _


	11. Chapter 11

_AN: Sorry for the _extreme _shortness. Again. But at least I posted it back to back!_

**Chapter Eleven:**

* * *

Jarvis unlocked the door as soon as he "saw" her license plate approaching the front garage. He often did this for her—not because he was programmed to, but simply because the AI genuinely _liked _her. As much as "Just A Really Very Intelligent System" could, that is. Mr. Stark was an excellent programmer and engineer and Jarvis wouldn't put it past him to be able to give an AI emotions like that.

After all, there were those moments when he was sarcastic.

Besides all of this, Jarvis noticed that Miss Potts' hands were full and opened the front door for her. _"Welcome back, Miss Potts,"_ he intoned.

"Hello, Jarvis. Where is he?"

_"Mr. Stark is currently drooling on the sofa cushions in the living room."_

Pepper laughed and headed for the kitchen.

She emerged a few minutes later with four peanut butter sandwiches and a glass of milk and walked over to Tony's snoring side in the flip-flops she'd shoved her feet in.

Pepper wasn't dressed in her usual professional attire, but then again neither was Tony—who managed to somehow throw the Hugo Boss blazer near the fireplace and his red Oxford shirt in the hollow center of the petrified tree stump-cum-coffee table. His undershirt was bunched up under his arms and he was lying in a "flight" position on his belly—with one arm dangling over the edge of the cushions.

Pepper was wearing a pair of Victoria's Secret PINK sweatpants with the brand name stitched across the butt and her favorite threadbare grey T-shirt. It was definitely the least dressed her boss had seen her. That is, _would _see her if he came out of his Demerol-induced coma at the alluring smell of peanut butter.

She waved the plate of sandwiches near his turned head (un-bruised cheek absolutely smashed into the cushion) and hoped for the best.

"Jiffy?" he finally slurred after a couple passes.

Pepper had been sipping at the milk she poured for him and wiped the resulting mustache off her upper lip with her forearm. "Always is," she answered.

"The room is wobbling."

He had only opened his eyes a tiny bit.

"That's because you haven't eaten, smarty-pants."

Tony snickered and sat up in a way that could only be described as unintentionally fluid-like. "'Smarty-pants,'" he repeated. "I like that, Miss Potts. I should give you a nickname."

She shoved a PB minus the J sandwich (how he liked them) in his wide-open mouth and brought one of his hands up to hold it there. "I already have one. Eat."

Tony ate. Bit by bit he regained some cognitive skills and he watched Pepper steal the crusts he was peeling off (not because he didn't like the crust—he just knew she liked that part the most).

For some odd reason, Pepper didn't bother getting another glass of milk and they ended up sharing.

Neither said a word. Until both the plate and glass were empty.

"I like your sweats," Tony commented with his sauciest wink.

She reached beside her and threw a mini-Snickers at his head. He pouted and dug the tiny wrapped chocolate out of the crack in the cushions where it landed after it bounced off his forehead. "Jarvis, how about starting _Blazing Saddles _up again?"

_"Certainly, sir."_

Pepper popped one of the wrongly named "Fun Size" candy bars in her mouth and relaxed further into the sofa. Beside her, Tony grabbed a throw pillow and tucked it behind his head.

Ten minutes into the movie, Pepper leaned to her right and rested her shoulder against Tony's ribs. "I love this movie," she confessed.

He gave her a sly look and tweaked his lips to the left in thought. He was feeling much less "swimmy" now that he had a full stomach and his hand wasn't bothering him… He wrapped the arm she was already perched under loosely about her shoulders—the brace on his hand interfered with a few things he intended to do and he had to settle for what he had.

"So, Pepper, what do _you _think is Mel Brooks' best movie?"

She assumed he'd had this conversation with someone else today by his inflection and tried her best to ignore the fact that he was doing that arm thing again and she could feel his breath in her hair and he smelled like peanut butter…

"_Young Frankenstein,_" she answered.

"No one ever agrees with me," Tony pouted.

* * *

**TBC**

_Remember to review—and to those of you who have, thank you _so very _much. _


	12. Chapter 12

___AN: __Sorry for the extreme shortness and length between chapters. Again. I'm stuck on one chapter further down the road and it's sucking up my priorities. Damn, I need to write a LLLLOOONNNGGG one. The rating may end up changing, by the way. Those of you who have read some of my previous stuff may realize that's where I'm going with this. But for now, it's still PG13 stuff._  


**Chapter Twelve:**

* * *

Pepper woke up at 6:00AM on the nose as she did every morning without fail. But, for some reason, things were out of place on this particular morning.

For one, her living room was never this big.

Two, her couch didn't usually breathe.

Three, her throw pillows didn't leave dents in her forehead.

_Wait… Breathing… Heartbeat… Low humming noise like a fluorescent light…_

Pepper cautiously opened one eye and found herself draped across Tony Stark like an afghan.

Her first instinct was complete panic—then she approached the issue from the fact that she was actually rather comfortable save the metal digging into her forehead and she moved her head slightly away from the arc reactor to relieve the pressure.

Pepper ended up with her nose and cheek pressed against Tony's upper abdomen and wondered where, exactly, her hands were.

She flexed her fingers and felt the smooth skin of Tony's shoulder under her left hand. Her right hand was suspiciously asleep. Her left leg was trapped between his thighs and knees and the other was caught against him and the back of the sofa

She could feel Tony's hands against her back, so she was "safe" there…

_Where is my other hand?!_

"Are you groping my ass?" came the sleep-fogged voice of her boss.

_Oh _shit.

Pepper's throat closed up on her and all that she could get out was a plaintive squeaking sound.

She could practically _hear _him trying to hide a grin. _ Smug jackass._

"Pepper?"

_Pretend you're asleep. _

"You're faking."

"How can you tell?!" she exploded—propping her chin against the base of his breastbone to meet his bleary eyes.

He winced a little as the point of her chin dug into a bruise but covered it expertly with a sideways grin. "You were holding your breath."

"My hand is asleep."

Tony reached across her back with his good hand and lifted his hips to pull her hand out of its hiding place. His thoughtless move pressed a prominent portion of his anatomy into her belly. Pepper turned scarlet even before she got her hand back and Tony almost matched the color in her cheeks with his own.

"Okay, this is awkward," he mumbled. _Every damn morning…_

Pepper bit her upper and lower lips at the same time and couldn't agree more. What _wasn't _awkward about accidentally spending the night with your boss who's high on Demerol and then waking up on top of him when he's sporting morning wood?

"Right," she covered her eyes with her left hand. "I'll just… Close my eyes and you can… You can, um…"

"Shove you, run up to my shower and hide?"

Pepper didn't think he meant for her to answer this and just waited.

"Oh-kay," he said shakily. "On three."

"On the word or after you say it?"

"After. One, two…" he braced his hands on her shoulders. "Three."

Gently, Tony shoved Pepper backwards and dashed out of the room like there was a fire. Pepper had never heard him move quite that fast before.

"Jarvis?"

_"Mr. Stark is in his room."_

Pepper dropped her hand and peeked at the stairwell. "Jarvis, if Mr. Stark returns to the living area before me, inform him that I'm in the guest room."

_"Will do, Miss Potts."_

"Thank you, Jarvis."

Pepper stamped upstairs and hung a right at the top. The guest room she spoke of was unofficially dubbed "Pepper's Room" since she kept some spare clothes and essentials in it (and for _some _reason, every time she opened the door to the walk-in closet that was only one eighth of the way full when she stocked it, another eighth had been added).

She closed the door to "her" room and leaned against the framing.

"This has gone way past awkward and straight into embarrassing."

_"Why do you say that, Miss Potts?"_

Pepper jumped—forgetting for a moment about Jarvis. She quickly gathered her wits, dug an unfamiliar looking grey suit and reddish-purple blouse out of the closet, and headed for the bathroom.

"That, Jarvis, is none of your bee's wax."

_"Certainly. I will refrain from asking why you are embarrassed."_

Pepper scowled and wished, not for the first time, that Jarvis had a _face_ or something she could glare at. "You just did."

_"My mistake."_

"I can't talk about this with a 'guy.' Go bother Tony."

_"As you wish," _Jarvis said.

Pepper swore she felt a smile behind those three words.

* * *

**TBC**

_Remember to review—and to those of you who have, thank you _so very _much. _


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter Thirteen:**

* * *

Tony Stark sat on the floor of his shower and shivered beneath a torrent of cold water.

_"I've been informed that I should 'bother you' now, sir."_

"Jesus CHRIST!" Tony bashed his head against the stone-tiled wall and flailed his arms uselessly. Had he been standing, be probably would have cracked his skull open on the floor and bled to death. "How many times have I told you _not _to do that?! Shower time equals 'avoid scaring the shit out of Tony Stark' time!"

Jarvis rattled off a number.

"What?"

_"That is exactly how many times you have told me not to speak to you while you are in the shower."_

Tony stood and eased the water back to a more tepid temperature. Any longer under the cold jets and he'd turn blue. "So shut up and leave me alone."

_"Crabby today, aren't we, sir?"_

"Go to hell."

Jarvis never had a response for that and Tony didn't hear another peep out of the AI as he washed his hair and shaved around his goatee with the expert of a man who had done it so often that he didn't need a mirror.

He kept his mind occupied by calculating the escape velocity he would need to break atmosphere in the suit—then how he could upgrade the armor to withstand a vacuum.

That lasted until he finished toweling off and walked, naked, into his closet. He sighed after a moment of deliberating what to wear and gave up his vow of silence.

"Jarvis, what are my appointments today?"

_"There is an informal board meeting scheduled at two PM today. Late lunch will be served."_

Tony grabbed a pair of dark jeans and a dark green long sleeved pullover. He hadn't worn it in a while because the collar just screamed 70s… For the third day in a row, he avoided slicking his hair back and let it dry in messy waves.

"Where's Pepper?" he asked.

_"Miss Potts is in the guest room."_

Might as well wander downstairs and make his version of breakfast. Cold cereal was about the best he could do. As he got out a pair of bowls and spoons, he dry swallowed a Demerol to dull the throbbing in his hand.

Before Tony poured milk into Pepper's Apple Jacks, he keyed up the intercom. "Pepper, come on down to the kitchen."

Instead of answering, his assistant descended the staircase and walked purposefully into the kitchen—appointments for the day ready on the tip of her tongue.

Tony poured the milk into her cereal and dropped a spoon in it. "Apple Jacks? Your hair looks good like that."

Pepper took the bowl from him and tilted her head in confusion.

"It gets all wavy when it's still wet," Tony observed, shoveling a spoonful of over-sugared cereal into his mouth. Milk dribbled down his chin.

She honestly had no idea what to say in response to that. In fact, Pepper was still reeling from the incident on the sofa—which she could never sit on again without getting the sensation of Tony's hard body beneath hers.

Without anything to say, she ate her own mouthful of Apple Jacks and reached across the kitchen island to wipe the milk out of Tony's goatee with her thumb. Unconsciously, Tony flicked his tongue out to catch anything she may have missed. His timing was slightly off, however.

He licked her thumb.

Pepper's breath caught in her throat and the spoon she held in her opposite hand clattered to the bowl.

The noise broke Tony away from the moment and he jerked his head back.

"Sorry," he mumbled. "Um…"

Pepper turned her head to stare at his fridge.

"I've got a catered board meeting in the afternoon. Any ideas on what it's going to be about?" he expertly changed the subject.

She went back to eating her cereal. If Tony could ignore _it_, then so could she. "My best guess is the press conference and probably the rebuilding of the factory. Mostly, your little announcement at the press conference."

"I really want to focus on arc technology. I've been thinking of ways it could be used in car engines…" he started off on his intricately technical ideas and lost Pepper's attention to what he was saying. Instead, she focused on how he said them. Much like she usually did when he got into that language of mechanics and engineering that she didn't understand.

She ate her Apple Jacks and watched his lips move and his hands gesture.

Halfway through explaining how an arc reactor could power a car for at least fifty years, Tony wet his lips and started smiling. Pepper held the bowl of her spoon against the roof of her mouth and blinked several times to make sure she didn't just imagine that tongue again.

_Today is going to be one of those extra long days,_ she thought.

* * *

**TBC**

_Remember to review—and to those of you who have, thank you _so very _much. _


	14. Chapter 14

_AN: Have I told ya'll lately how much I love you? Over 240 reviews and this sucker isn't even close to over! I feel so loved. Thanks for reading and reviewing—it means a lot to me._

**Chapter Fourteen:**

* * *

Tony glanced around the room at the faces of the men and women whom he hired to run his company and saw a trend in their expressions. They ran the gamut from proud (two of the guys in marketing) to livid (head of security and a majority of the board members). Barely anyone touched their food. Except Tony—ever since he'd been fed nothing but gruel for three months he'd been ravenous but flighty. Sometimes he'd find himself so caught up in just _thinking _that he'd forget to eat so he felt like he was constantly running on an empty stomach.

Rhodey, whom Tony appointed as a senior member (as opposed to simply a liaison with the company) upon Obadiah Stane's "mysterious disappearance," finished chewing a slice of the porterhouse he'd chosen and interrupted the ranting head of security with a calm collectedness that seemed to be catching.

"Listen, what Mr. Stark said on Monday _was _rash, _but," _he pointed with his fork at the man he'd interrupted, "Stark Industries has regained its previous drop in stocks and then some. So what are we arguing about here?"

Silence.

"I thought so," Rhodey nodded and sliced another bite of his steak.

Tony literally wiped the smirk off his face with his good hand. "Listen, Stane sold our weapons to numerous terrorist cells around the _world _the entire time he served this company. There is only one way I can stop the wrong people from using them."

"It's far too dangerous, sir," that livid head of security argued.

"Too bad. I've already taken out a weapons cache in Gulmira and I made it back no worse for the wear."

All eyes were immediately drawn to his braced wrist and the slowly fading bruises on his face.

Tony snorted and cracked open a beer. "Please," he scoffed. "I'm not some porcelain figurine that needs to be kept in a bulletproof casing and dusted every once in a while. I'm more than capable of handling things."

"What about your PTSD?"

Tony's face hardened.

Thankfully, Rhodes had his back. "Mr. Stark is being treated by a top military psychiatrist—and it's not impairing his judgment."

"What our main focus _should _be is rebuilding the main factory and focusing on arc technology. I've got some specs up here," Tony tapped the side of his head, "for vehicular applications. Think about how the public will react to the idea of never needing to rely on fossil fuels again."

This got a good response.

"I'll render a few different engines this afternoon and the files will be on the company server for you all to look at by tomorrow morning at the latest."

With that, Tony took a swig from his beer and left for his office with the bottle in hand.

Pepper was at his computer—watching something with the volume turned down low. Tears streamed down her cheeks.

She had the lock chip that had a copy of the ghost drive plugged into the USB port.

"Pepper?"

She jerked in his chair and immediately swiped a hand at her cheeks. Quickly, before she could close the window she was looking at, Tony circled around behind her and took her right hand in his as she reached for the mouse.

The words being spoken were translated into English, but they might as well have still been speaking Dari for how much the images overpowered the dialogue.

_That's me…_

The grainy footage showed Tony tied to a chair, covered in blood with seeping bandages stretched across his chest. The man who removed the hood yanked Tony's head back by his hair and tossed him to face the camera again. Tony didn't even remember feeling that… He remembered looking at the faces around him, but that?

The stain of blood across his chest started to grow and his breathing went from cautious to painfully shallow.

Tony laced his fingers through Pepper's and squeezed. He wrapped his free arm across her breastbone and pulled her back against his belly in a backwards hug.

On the video, Tony Stark passed out and chaos erupted. He watched as they forced Yinsen out from beyond the frame and into the shot and ordered him to "fix the Prince of War."

The file ended.

Pepper shifted in the chair and turned herself to bury her face in Tony's chest. The arc reactor dug into her cheek but she didn't care. She was holding on for dear life—_his _dear life—and she didn't want to let go.

Because she shifted against him so fast, Pepper missed the expression of defeat on Tony's face. She'd been expecting him to be the one to offer up some strength for the moment. Instead, she found herself supporting her boss as Tony slid to his knees and tried to melt against her. His hands flattened against her body as he tried to calm down—stop the flood of memories and bury himself within the moment with _her…_

"Tony…" she leaned down and pressed her lips to the crown of his head.

Pepper felt him breathe against her shirt and decided that he needed to do something normal—something that he did to occupy his mind. She grabbed him by the elbows and tugged. "Come on, Tony."

She lifted him off the floor and helped him into his chair, wiping her eyes with one hand and keeping the other on his shoulder. Tony slowly came back to himself and cleared his throat.

_Work. I need to work… _

He closed the video file and opened his engineering program. Over his shoulder, Pepper made sure he calmed down before she dared to move at all. Instead of sitting at her desk as she usually did once Tony got into his "work mode," the redhead sat on the sofa against the wall and started reading the new Stephen King book her mom bought her as a "gee-whiz, it's Wednesday" gift.

Seven hours later, Pepper found herself driving home because Tony Stark told her to "get some real sleep" when she handed him his fourth cup of coffee.

On her way out of his office, he managed to tear himself away from the computer long enough to walk her to the elevators.

He'd kissed her cheek again.

And, feeling emboldened and slightly drowsy, Pepper Potts did the same to him just before the elevator doors closed on her smug expression.

* * *

**TBC**

_Remember to review—and to those of you who have, thank you _so very _much. _


	15. Chapter 15

**Chapter Fifteen:**

* * *

Tony Stark was _pissed._ He'd come home rather late after sending out his engine specs to his employees and board members to find some asshole with an eye patch and a _sword_ standing in his living room blathering on about something called the "Avengers Initiative."

So SHIELD was putting together a band of "superheroes."

Tony wasn't having any of it—at least not until he'd fixed what Obadiah had done. He said as much to Nick Fury.

Now, standing in his kitchen with a cold beer sweating in one hand (for some reason he'd been avoiding scotch like the plague lately), Tony tried to calm down.

Jarvis was still running an emergency repair program, so more than half the house was chilled in darkness and so silent that Tony could hear his own breathing echoing through the rooms.

Suddenly, the beer wasn't the only thing sweating.

The cot in the garage was starting to sound like a good idea…

Tony actually began walking towards the stairs when he realized what he was doing.

"Shit," he kicked the wall. "Jarvis, call—"

Tony knocked his head on the same wall he kicked. "Dumbass," he said to himself. After a short moment of self-flagellation, Tony stalked over to his sofa and dug through the cushions to find the phone. Automatically, his fingers hit "redial" instead of the speed-dial number he'd programmed from Dr. Horowitz's business card. Later, he'd notice that his subconscious was furiously at work.

The phone rang six times before anyone picked up.

"H'lo?"

"Pepper… I'm, uh, sorry to be calling so late but—"

He heard sheets rustling and got a vivid mental picture of his assistant sitting up in bed—her fiery hair mussed with sleep and her blue eyes heavy with the irritation of being woken on the AM side of the clock.

"Oh my God," she whispered in a throaty voice. "Are you okay?"

"Uh, I'm… Fine. Sort of… I can't sleep. And there was this guy from SHIELD—the director, actually—he broke in and—"

Tony heard Pepper shoot out of her bed. "Oh my God," she repeated. "Tony, if you want to you can come over here and borrow the guest room. Is Jarvis okay?"

Tony picked at the corner of one eye and sighed. "He's running his repair program. At least, he is if the diagnostic program is finished. I, uh, can't tell—there's only one keypad working."

He stopped talking and looked blindly at the stairwell leading to the work room. "You know what, I'm coming over."

They both gave quick goodbyes and Tony jogged up to his bedroom to grab jeans and a T-shirt. He was back in his Audi and out on the road in less than five minutes—hands and feet on autopilot as he drove to Pepper's beachfront house.

It had been his first birthday present to her.

Pepper had seen his headlights as he pulled into her driveway and opened the front door to stand on the covered porch. She wore a loose flannel robe over a tank top and a pair of cotton shorts and looked just as Tony imagined her. Before he could open his mouth to say even a simple "hello," Pepper raised a shushing finger and glared at him.

"If you say 'sorry,' I'm committing you. Now say: 'good morning,' Tony."

He grinned. "Good morning, Tony."

Pepper dropped her head in shame, having clearly set that up for him to take advantage of.

"May I enter, oh beautiful, perfect assistant of mine?"

Pepper blinked at him and Tony strode inside her home with his spare clothes tucked under one arm. She pointed at this and smiled as she locked the door behind herself.

"Good for you."

"I've even remembered more of my social security number."

Pepper led him upstairs and looked over her shoulder in expectation.

"Nine," Tony said proudly after they stopped in front of the guest room. "It's five, nine, something, something, something…"

Pepper laughed and opened the door to the guest room. "You're still missing a few."

Tony finally felt himself relaxing—calming down. It was then that he realized how easily Pepper could take over his brain. He bit his lips and looked down at her (a novelty—usually she was wearing heels that made her about an inch taller than _him_) curiously.

Their eyes met, and Tony felt that gut-punch sensation again. "This scaring you?" he whispered.

Pepper refused to look away from his warm bourbon eyes and swallowed the sudden lump of nervousness that had risen in her throat. "No," she whispered back. "You?"

The jeans and T-shirt he'd been holding fell from his slackened arm. "A little," he admitted. "But in a good way."

Pepper stepped closer and the moonlight from the window overlooking the Pacific washed over her bared skin. She looked like she was glowing from the inside and her eyes were positively bewitching. They had to be, because Tony could not look away.

She came even closer and Tony admired her even more as she took the reins on the situation.

Pepper's heart was beating so fast that Tony could _see_ her pulse along her neck. She licked her lips and tilted her face up slightly—breathing the same air as him for a few moments before she took that last step forward and brushed her lips across his. His beard tickled and Pepper smiled slightly at the sensation. As far as kisses went it was the most innocent Tony had ever received—and yet…

It was the best kiss he'd ever experienced.

He felt his knees tremble and opened his mouth to suck lightly on her lower lip. Her hand dug into his hair and tugged lightly at it to tilt his head further into her access. Tony's hands stayed on her lower back and against her neck in an unconscious, closer, pantomime of their dance.

Pepper bravely dragged her other hand underneath his pullover and ran her short nails along his bare side. His muscles tensed involuntarily, but she kept moving.

To finally be in this moment with him on her own terms was a powerful thing. She wanted him to know that she wasn't another one of his flings and he _did _know it—he had always known.

It just took a life-changing experience to hammer this fact into his mind. Virginia Potts was the only sort of woman he needed—the only one capable enough to love him completely. Flaws and all.

Pepper broke away from the kiss with her hand splayed across the smooth bare skin of his back beneath his shirt and tried to catch her breath against his neck.

Tony had to sit when his knees decided to quit on him. Pepper sat with him on the mattress and pressed her bruised lips to the side of his mouth—whispering something.

He couldn't speak. Instead, he mouthed the word "what" and blinked languidly. He felt like he was underwater—drowning in every part of her.

Again, feeling brave and utterly _womanly,_ Pepper gently kissed his lips once more and whispered just a bit louder. "I think this might be love, Tony Stark."

His eyes stayed open and trapped in hers even as she backed away from him slightly. Pepper felt like her world just might fall apart if he didn't say anything soon.

Tony smiled. It wasn't a smirk, a grin, or his usual flirty quirk of the lips. It was a full on smile that creased the corners of his eyes and made him look astonishingly young. "That's good, Pepper Potts," he finally said—whispering like her. His voice shook as he spoke, "Because I think it might be love, too."

Pepper smiled as well.

* * *

**TBC**

_Remember to review—and to those of you who have, thank you _so very _much. _


	16. Chapter 16

**Chapter Sixteen:**

* * *

Tony woke up in an unfamiliar room that held a very familiar scent of strawberry shampoo—his hand was what actually woke him. He'd taken the brace off last night while he was working on the computer and accidentally left it in the office. The bottle of Demerol was still in the pocket of his jeans.

As he reached for the pills he noted the lack of weight on the opposite site of the bed and remembered that he'd fallen asleep in Pepper's arms… The last sensation he recalled was her lips against his closed eyelids.

Tony dug beneath the covers, fished out a pill and dry swallowed it. As he waited for the medication to kick in, he took stock of the current situation. One, Pepper had actually tucked him under the covers last night. Two, she'd taken his shoes and socks off for him. Three, he told her he loved her.

_I love her… I do. I really am in love with Pepper Potts._

The thought still frightened him a bit. What if he screwed this up? He was never good with relationships—at least, not in his mind. If he truly thought of it, he had been with Pepper longer than any woman in his life.

He slid sideways on the mattress and shifted the top sheet an comforter to one side—letting his toes dig into the deep pile of the cream-colored carpet. Before he stood, he ground the heel of his right hand against his eyes.

He hadn't slept that well since… Well, since yesterday on the sofa.

Tony glanced down at the foot of the bed and saw his clothes laid out for him. He smiled and changed into his comfortable jeans (in other words, the most threadbare and holey he owned) and one of the T-shirts he'd cut a hole out of for the arc reactor.

He smelled brewed coffee and followed it down to Pepper's kitchen.

She was sitting at her breakfast nook with the day's paper in one hand and a pink mug in the other. Her hair was left down in waves and she wore a pair of cutoff jeans and a cyan tank top. In the empty seat across from her she had laid out a cup of coffee for him along with his favorite section of the newspaper—the page folded so that the sudoku puzzle was the first thing he saw. A pen was laid across the top of it.

"Morning," he greeted quietly.

Pepper smiled at him and dropped the paper in exchange for a container of peach yogurt. "Good morning, Tony."

He slid into the seat she had ready for him and immediately picked up the pen.

Morning routine at the office…

Pepper glanced down at the second hand on her watch. "Ready? And… Go."

Tony started filling in the sudoku puzzle—his brain easily working out the numbers until all nine squares were filled in. "Done," he announced.

Pepper grinned. "Thirteen seconds. You're getting faster."

Tony grinned and stole a spoonful of her yogurt. They stared at each other for a long moment.

"I meant it, you know," he said as he pulled the spoon out of his mouth and handed it back to her.

Her eyes widened as she scooped up some more yogurt.

"Last night," Tony rubbed at his chin. "I meant what I said. I need you to know that. You're all I've got and all I need and…" he sighed and reached over to grasp her hands in his—placing the spoon in the cup of yogurt. "I do, you know. Love you."

Pepper's chin was quavering. She tightened her fingers around his and dropped her forehead onto his knuckles. Tony could literally _feel _her relief at hearing him say it again and he bent to kiss the top of her head.

"I'm glad you came over last night," Pepper admitted. Tony heard the thick catch in her voice. "I don't think I could have said anything if you hadn't come over."

Tony tipped her chin up and pressed his lips lightly against hers. It was an unusual sensation—kissing a woman he knew so well and had such a strong emotional connection to.

A very strong emotional connection.

He tilted his head an opened his mouth to gently run his tongue across the seam of her lips. He tasted peach yogurt and Maxwell House coffee and closed his eyes as he cupped her cheeks in his hands.

Emboldened in the comfort of her own breakfast nook, Pepper chased his tongue with hers and curled her fingers around the hair at the back of his neck.

Tony forgot how good kissing actually felt.

Coffee and yogurt was abandoned and the pair stumbled blindly into the living room. Tony gave up on walking Pepper backwards, wrapped one arm tightly around her thin waist, and just _lifted _her off her feet. She let out a surprised noise that reverberated through Tony's molars.

He twisted around on the balls of his feet and twirled her so they'd land on her sofa. His hands ran along the silken skin behind her knees and Pepper grabbed his face and tilted his chin back as far as it would go—she poured her heart into kissing him. She wanted to brand her mouth to his and erase the sensation of any other woman's kiss.

It worked.

Eventually, breathing became an issue and Tony moved his chin down to meet with her shoulder as he tried to fill his lungs. Pepper shivered when his beard scratched against her bared skin.

He tried to talk but had to clear a frog out of his throat to say anything. "Uh…"

"A little overwhelming?" Pepper guessed.

"Yu-huh," he mumbled into her hair.

She pressed further into him and they slid sideways on the couch until she was straddling his abdomen. "I agree."

Tony could not deny the fact that he was physically aching to be with her, but he _did _still have enough control to stop himself. He gently took her face in his hands and pressed a chaste kiss on her swollen lips. Her hand was clasped just to the right of the arc reactor and she could feel the frantic pounding of his heart.

"Tony?"

"Mm?"

"I'm kind of scared," she slid her left leg between his thighs and draped herself across him much like she had the previous morning.

"Pepper?"

"What?"

Tony gently took her hand and kissed her fingers. "I'm kind of scared, too."

They looked at each other and held onto the moment—one of very few they would be allowed to have to themselves.

* * *

**TBC**

_Remember to review—and to those of you who have, thank you _so very _much. _


	17. Chapter 17

**Chapter Seventeen:**

* * *

Tony parked in his garage and cast a forlorn eye at his smashed Shelby Cobra. It still hurt every time he looked at it—especially since he spent so long perfecting the car from the inside out. It wasn't as bad as the loss of his piano, though. Without music to distract himself from work Tony was almost constantly stressed.

Getting a new piano was on his list of things to do today. He made a quick, professional, call to Pepper about it and mumbled something about taking care of some wrongful business transactions before he said goodbye. He could hear her protesting this idea just as he was hanging up and felt like a total ass.

Tony checked Jarvis for any minor coding errors that may have occurred when he was taken offline last night and decided to get an early start on taking out some terrorists. As he pulled on his neoprene gear he made a call to Rhodey.

"Yeah."

"Rhodey, I've got some business to take care of just outside Gulmira."

Rhodes sighed. "Well, at least you told me this time."

Tony smirked. "I'd ask if you wanted to come with, but you need some training before you get in the air with me."

Silence.

"Wait…"

"I'm making a new one for you. Mark II-A, I suppose. Or how about 'War Machine?' That sounds like something you'd like."

"Tony… I…" he laughed suddenly. "Man, it's not even close to my birthday!"

Tony grinned. "Come by on Saturday and we'll get you all scanned and ready."

"Damn, Tony…"

"Keep the skies clear for me, alright platypus?"

"Only if you quit calling me that."

"Got it."

"I'll call it in. Armed Forces are going to want to monitor how you do, you know…"

"Whatever," Tony shrugged. "See you Saturday, Rhodey."

They both hung up and Tony stepped onto his "test pad."

"Jarvis, suit me up and load navigational map three into the HUD."

_"Yes, sir."_

Tony felt a bit like he was being taken care of by a pit crew as he was bolted into the red and gold suit. The headpiece clanked shut and he really did feel like another person—like _Iron Man—_when he looked up at the hole in his ceiling and checked general flight patterns on the HUD. When nothing was in sight he kicked the boots into gear and flew above commercial jet altitude. On a whim, he decided to fly supersonic and was propelled forward by a loud _crack _of air molecules slamming into other air molecules when he moved too fast for them to stay with him.

"Jarvis, how's the new power output?"

_"Optimum, sir. The new reactor is working at five times the capacity of the last."_

Tony grinned. "My math is never wrong."

He made the rest of the journey in silence—speaking only once he got to the mountain range in Afghanistan. "Check the area for specified microchip signals."

His HUD system lit up with a multitude of red circles.

"Civilians?"

_"There are fifteen being held where the closest shipment was delivered. I'm reading another thirty that are already deceased._"

"Shit. Show largest threat to civilian safety."

Jarvis magnified three tanks—all armed with Stark Industries weaponry and guarding a huge munitions supply and one of his older missiles—a Spartan. All civilians were being held in a nearby quarry. Tony's mind worked quickly on the problem at hand and he landed with a flair between the tanks and the captives.

There was only one man guarding them and he literally pissed his pants when Tony tuned to face him with that perpetual frown of disapproval and glowing blue eyes. He grabbed the M-16 out of the terrorist's hands and bent the barrel in half. Without being told, the group he'd been holding at gunpoint ran as far away as possible—making Tony's job twice as easy as it would have been.

Unfortunately for the guy who was standing in a pair of urine-soaked trousers, his comrades in the tanks decided to fire an RPG at Iron Man's back. It clanged off the armor and landed in the gravel and Tony barely had time to react as it exploded and sent him flying into a rock face. The so-called 'guard' was now decorating the quarry with his guts and Tony was half-covered in gore.

He was still holding the bent M-16.

Dropping it, Tony crouched from his prone position and turned to carefully aim an energy blast from his right palm at the Spartan missile at the center of the "tank triangle."

Five times the usual power exploded from the conduit and slammed into the missile with the force of a hydrogen bomb.

Not only did the missile explode, but the tanks, munitions, half the quarry surrounding the tanks, and the encampment of terrorists _behind _the missile were taken out by the blast. Tony was slammed into the wall by the blast wave and stayed there until the wind died down.

There was a crater.

Tony gave a manic laugh and stared at what he'd done. "I wasn't expecting that," he muttered.

_"Indeed," _said Jarvis—sounding quite smug and pleased with himself.

"Jarvis, do a system check and see what else is nearby."

The HUD lit up with red again and Tony smiled.

* * *

**TBC**

_Remember to review—and to those of you who have, thank you _so very _much. _


	18. Chapter 18

_AN: 321 reviews?! I love you guys. I've never had so much interest in one of my fanfics. It's just... WOW. Keep those reviews coming!_

**Chapter Eighteen:**

* * *

It was incredibly late and Tony Stark was so exhausted that he didn't even notice the new Steinway grand piano beside his fireplace (covering the hole in the floor). At least, not at first.

He paused on the stairwell with an ice pack pressed to one shoulder and twisted at the hip to stare at it. The eighty-eight keys of pure ivory and classic ebony beckoned from afar and Tony's mind abandoned the idea of sleep in favor of sitting down on the piano bench.

He played Debussy's _Clair De Lune _then, staring bitterly at the sofa, Beethoven's _Ninth. _He played it angrily and glared down at his hands when he finished. His left hand was cramping.

Obadiah would often play the piano when he came for visits. He would monopolize it, in fact. There were times when Tony would be seated at it and relaxing his mind with a jazz tune he composed and Stane would kick him off the bench to play the same sheet music he always did.

_Ah, Tony… This is your _Ninth Symphony…

How?

How _could _he?

Tony rested his forehead against the closed top of the Steinway and succumbed to the exhaustion that had been screaming through his blood.

One of these days he'd fall asleep in his own bed.

Tony dreamed of his first day running Stark Industries—coincidentally the first day Pepper officially worked for him. At just a few months younger than him she was astonishing and smart but not often taken seriously. In fact, her interview for a job as his PA had been about two minutes long and ended with those big blue eyes of hers following him across the room with a sort of dubious shock lingering within them.

Obadiah was there—giving him that pep talk before the board meeting.

But as is the nature with dreams, something changed.

_Obadiah reached at a twenty-one year old Tony's chest and plunged his hand inside before pulling out his heart and holding it before Tony's eyes with a malicious grin. _

_"It's not quite your soul, but it'll do for now, Tony. You can have it back when I'm done with it."_

_Obadiah placed Tony's beating heart inside his briefcase and looked back at the screaming form of Pepper. "Oh, hush," he said. "Like he'd ever give it to you…"_

_"Bastard!"_

_"That's no way to talk to the man who practically raised you."_

_As dreams often did, Tony was in a different situation in a blink. _

_He saw burlap fibers and felt duct tape around his wrists and ankles—tied to that goddamn chair again._

_"Shit."_

_Blinded by the rough fabric, Tony didn't see the face of the man who put a charge to the car battery attached to his chest. Not that it would matter… _

_The shock made him cry out even louder than he had in the real caves—this car battery wasn't attached to an electromagnet that was keeping shrapnel out of his heart. It was hooked up to the left and right ventricles of his actual heart and he could hear Obadiah's voice barking orders. _

_"Should have fired that bitch sooner! She stole it from me and gave it back to him. Are you done with her, yet?"_

_Tony heard crying, then the voice of the man who held him captive for three months. "Almost. I thought American women were supposed to be weak."_

_"Not redheads."_

_"Fucking bastards!"_

_Tony was electrocuted for shouting and bit down so hard on his lower lip that he tasted blood. _

"Tony!"

_Oh God… She was screaming…_

_Obadiah yanked the burlap bag off Tony's face and showed him Pepper—tied similarly to a chair across from him. Her shirt was torn and there was a gaping wound in her chest. Stane held her heart. "If I can't control you with that shriveled piece of shit she stole back for you, I can use hers," he said._

_Tony looked at Pepper's defeated face and screamed himself hoarse._

He woke up with a shout and fell off the piano bench.

Immediately after vomiting what little he had to eat from the whole day, Tony went back down into the work shop and started writing up preliminary specifications for the War Machine armor.

There would be no more sleep for him tonight.

* * *

**TBC**

_Remember to review—and to those of you who have, thank you _so very _much. _


	19. Chapter 19

_IMPORTANT AN: **WARNING**—The next chapter contains mature content. The rating of this fic has been changed to "M" as soon as it is uploaded. If you aren't in the habit of checking that section for updates, please add this story to your alerts. If you are uncomfortable with reading M-rated content, I will post warnings like these before certain sections or chapters—for example, the next chapter is entirely for mature audiences only. Skip ahead to chapter 21 if you don't want to read that content._

**Chapter Nineteen:**

* * *

On Friday, Pepper walked into the workshop at ten in the morning with a mug of coffee and some forms that needed a few signatures—a pre-written "I would gladly do this" letter to the MIT people who wanted him to give the commencement speech and the donations Tony wanted made for Child's Play. He was planning on participating in the auction, but as always he made a separate donation "just because."

She expected to find him hunched over something mechanical and got that much right.

What she didn't expect was how horrible he looked.

Tony's skin was pale and waxy with the exception of the dark circles beneath his eyes… And his eyes…

They were so bloodshot that Pepper was immediately worried.

Among the lines of grease marring his cheekbones were the uneven cutting lines of tear tracks.

"Tony?"

He jerked away from what he was doing and stared at her. "Hey," he croaked.

His voice sounded like he'd swallowed a bag of gravel.

"Are you okay?"

He kept his eyes glued to hers and shrugged—wincing slightly as a nerve was pinched in his abused shoulder. "Nightmares."

Pepper set the coffee and paperwork down beside his project on the coffee table and reached across to wipe the smudges from his cheeks. "Why didn't you call me?" she asked.

"It was really late and I, uh…"

His big brown eyes darted away from her and she saw his nostrils twitch with effort along with the pursing of his lips and convulsive swallowing. Why wouldn't he look at her?

"Tony?"

"They were about you."

His hands suddenly reached out and tugged her down onto his lap. "Can you promise me something, Pepper?"

Curious, Pepper nodded.

"Please promise me you'll never leave," Tony ground out. His throat was so dry that every word crackled with the effort it took to speak them.

The utter sadness in his voice had Pepper pulling him against her body. "I won't leave you, Tony."

She lifted his head and kissed him gently.

The image from his nightmare of Pepper Potts sitting in a chair across from him with her heart in Obadiah Stane's hand flew through Tony's mind and he grasped at her. He wrapped his arms tightly around her and poured himself into the kiss. Pepper, more than a little surprised, gave a little squeak as he pressed her against the soft leather of the sofa. His teeth clacked uncomfortably against hers, his facial hair scraped harshly against her soft skin, and he was pressing most of his weight onto her.

She framed her hands against his face and took all that he had to give.

Tony pulled himself away from her mouth and looked down at her face.

Pepper was lovely—her lips were bruised, her chin was bearing evidence of a friction burn from his beard, her cheeks were flushed, and her chest was heaving with the effort it took to get enough air. And in Tony's mind he was imagining her like this throughout the seasons.

"Pepper…?"

She let her eyes flick across his face and ran he tips of her fingers through his messy hair. Her heart was beating so fast… It matched Tony's.

She answered the unspoken question in his voice by kicking her heels off and reaching down to undo the first button on her cream-colored blouse. His eyes followed her actions and he leaned up a bit to pull his muscle shirt over the top of his head. Pepper kissed his exposed chest right above his hammering heart.

"I want this," she whispered against his skin.

Tony let out a shaking sigh and lightly ran his knuckles across the swell of her breasts.

"I need this, Tony," Pepper slid her right leg against the back of the sofa and leaned backwards—pulling him closer to her body and cradling him to her with enough tenderness to remove uncertainty from both of their minds. Everything would change if they kept going.

Everything.

Pepper leaned up and kissed him again with that same softness as their very first kiss.

* * *

**TBC**

_Remember to review—and to those of you who have, thank you _so very _much. _


	20. Chapter 20

**_IMPORTANT AUTHOR'S NOTE: This chapter contains some seriously adult content. If you are uncomfortable with that sort of thing or you're underaged, please skip this chapter and go right on to the next. Again, this chapter is for ADULTS ONLY._**

**Chapter Twenty:**

* * *

_Touch,_ Pepper Potts thought, _is a wonderful thing._

She rested the pads of her fingers against Tony's neck, feeling the thrum of his pulse and the curl of hair at his nape. Tony gently slid one of his hands across the smooth fabric of her bra and down, down, down across Pepper's shaking belly—pulling her blouse away from her skin and cataloguing each freckle revealed. He kissed her jaw line and allowed himself to _slow down _for once in his life.

For _once _he just wanted to stay in one place. With one person.

"Pepper…"

His earlier urgency seemed to have bleed into the air surrounding them, and Pepper had breathed it all in. She flushed at the way he said her name and tugged impatiently at the fly of his cotton-soft jeans. Tony ran his open mouth against her cheek and carefully undid the clasp on the front of her bra—calm while she grew even more frantic and shoved his jeans down his hips with all four limbs…

He laughed quietly against her parted lips as she hooked her toes into his belt loops and somehow managed to draw his trousers down around his knees.

"Slow down," Tony pleaded. "Pepper..."

She drew back a bit—giving Tony a better view of her pale breasts and flushed skin. Pepper was breathing almost frantically—digging her short nails into his bare sides and tugging at his body in a silent attempt to get him to lean closer.

Tony slowly unzipped her skirt with one hand and cupped her cheek with the other—trying to get Pepper to slow down with the example of his kiss.

"Why slow?" she whispered into his mouth and ran her tongue along the edges of his teeth in hopes of charging him up again.

Tony leaned his forehead against hers and swallowed the lump in his throat. "I want this to last," he confessed. His eyes were open and staring into hers—gauging her reaction. When Pepper ran her fingers through his hair, Tony moved down her body and kicked his pants off as he went. He kissed her belly button and slid the point of his tongue just along the waistline of her panties and skirt just before slowly pulling both articles of clothing off Pepper's slender legs.

He had to swallow again at the sight of her bared flesh—blushing and already wet with anticipation. Tony's dark eyes flicked up to Pepper's and he smirked at the expression on her face. She was biting her lower lip and trying not to blink. Seeing his dilated eyes staring up at her she smiled and tightened her fingers in his hair.

He stroked his callused hands across her smooth thighs and gave her the chance to sit up just enough to pull her bra and blouse off in one move. She desperately wanted to flip Tony onto his back and rush through it all.

That was until Tony Stark dipped his tongue against her labia and rubbed his bearded chin against her sensitive inner thighs.

"Oh my God," she gasped and tugged harder on his hair.

Tony kissed the mark he'd left behind on her thigh and breathed deeply. "I want this to last, Pepper," he repeated.

He hooked her legs over his shoulders and went back to mouthing her slick flesh with a maddening slowness. He was teasing her. Pepper shifted against the smooth leather of the sofa and dug her heels into Tony's spine—pressing hard against a few bruises. Tony winced in pain and dragged his tongue across her swollen and hypersensitive clitoris before fastening his mouth around the bundle of nerves. Pepper actually groaned out loud as he pressed two of his work-rough fingers inside her hot opening. His free hand gently smoothed across her tender breasts.

She wanted to say something but wasn't sure what would come out of her mouth if she stopped biting her lower lip. Tony picked up a slow rhythm with his mouth and fingers and Pepper's teeth split her lip.

As she tasted blood, Pepper opened her mouth and whispered. "No one…"

"Hmm?"

His hum ran through her entire body and she shivered.

She panted as he kept up his slow pace and tender attention to her breasts—trying to remember what she was going to say. "Done this… F-for me."

Pepper felt herself rapidly approaching that elusive precipice—spots of light obscured her vision and she tightly closed her eyes.

Tony reached down and tugged his boxers off with one hand—getting help with one side in the form of Pepper's surprisingly agile toes. He hummed against her clitoris again—purposefully—and rubbed his cheeks against her inner thighs. "No one _else_ ever will," he growled heatedly into her and shifted on the sofa.

Pepper kept her legs tangled around his body and kissed him _hard _when he tilted his hips against hers. She tasted herself all the way around the back of his teeth along with the sharp tang of coffee he must have been drinking the entire night. The hard corner of his arc reactor dug into her breastbone but Pepper paid it no mind.

Tony broke the kiss and tilted his forehead against hers. He wanted to see her eyes as this happened. In fact, he caressed her flushed cheek and waited for her to look at him. Her sweet, toothpaste flavored breath ghosted across his face in harsh bursts. Bright blue eyes finally opened to reveal large pupils full of the same emotion in his bourbon-colored eyes.

_Love._

"I need you to know something, Pepper."

He sounded strained. Pepper understood—she was practically incapable of speech by now.

"I love you so much," he whispered and stared into her eyes.

Pepper licked her lips and gave a quavering smile. "I love you too, Tony," she managed after trying to speak for several long moments.

Forehead still pressed against hers, Tony angled his chin and pressed a sweet kiss on her upper lip. He held her neck in one hand and carefully maneuvered himself against her weeping entrance.

Tony's hips slowly moved against hers, giving her body time to stretch and adjust… But the fullness was overwhelming. The pulsing of his heartbeat was too much. Pepper often had dreams about this moment, but none held a candle to the real thing. The feel of sweat-slick muscles tensing and relaxing beneath her hands as he moved his hips slowly up and down… The sensation of Tony's rough hands caressing her thigh and cradling the back of her neck…

Pepper whined and tugged on his hair to kiss him again. Her free hand was clawed against his lower back—leaving four neat crescent moon-shaped indents in his skin. It was a fair trade-off to the deep indent his arc reactor was leaving between her breasts.

More bright spots of light popped as her breathing became more ragged. She could hear Tony gasping for the same air and felt his movements get a bit more desperate.

"Same time," he dragged his face down to the spot where her neck met her shoulder and repeated this hotly against her ticklish skin. In the haze Pepper wasn't sure what he meant by it.

Not until she felt the first flutter of her inner muscles against his manhood—when Tony Stark _whimpered._

"Same time," she agreed and shifted against him—tilting her hips further up and dragging him deeper into her body with each stroke. She flexed with each move he made backwards—prolonging the tug and tightening that _knot _further. Pepper's breathing was coming in high-pitched gasps and the hand gripping Tony's lower back flattened into a slap between his shoulders. He ground his pubic bone against her until they both shook with exertion and stared into one another's eyes.

Balanced on one elbow, Tony reached between their slick bodies and pressed the pad of his thumb against her clitoris—rubbing in time with his strokes.

It was Pepper's undoing. Like a bowstring her entire body tensed—her breath was knocked out of her lungs and she climaxed harder than ever. Tears sprang to her eyes and she let out a scream that rattled her head. Tony held himself still inside her and collapsed as the rhythmic pulsing of her inner muscles finished him completely. He came, sobbing, inside of her.

Tony fought to catch his breath against her thrumming neck and hoped that she could handle his weight for a few minutes as he recovered.

They both felt each other's tears and shared a quiet laugh and languid touches.

And in the sensation of Pepper Potts' fingers combing repeatedly through his hair, Tony Stark realized that he could get very used to this whole "commitment" thing.

* * *

**TBC**

_Remember to review—and to those of you who have, thank you _so very _much. _


	21. Chapter 21

**Chapter Twenty-One:**

* * *

Tony woke up in a different position than he fell asleep in. Pepper was now draped naked across his chest in what was becoming a regular habit of hers—with her legs straddling his left thigh and her right hand pressed between the sofa cushion and his buttocks. Her left hand was settled innocently against his right shoulder.

He stared at her for some time—taking in that gorgeous red hair and pale as milk skin… Her lower lip was particularly plump and bruised and sported what looked like a bite mark that Tony didn't remember making. Looking at it a bit longer, he noticed the inward angle and realized that she'd done it to herself.

"What time is it?" she suddenly asked—those ripe lips brushing against the bare skin of his chest.

_"It's currently 7:15 PM, Miss Potts. The charity auction officially starts at 9;30 PM."_

Both Tony and Pepper jerked in surprise as Jarvis answered.

Tony cleared his throat and rubbed his hand up and down Pepper's nude back. "Almost a nine hour nap… Guess that means we should get up."

Pepper nodded against him, then propped her chin on the polymer shell that covered his arc reactor. "You've still got paper's that need signing before we go."

He sat up with his assistant in his arms and dropped a kiss on her forehead. Secretly, Pepper admitted that he was looking a hundred times better than he had when she first came into the shop. His skin was no longer pale and the circles beneath his eyes were gone. He actually looked… Healthy.

She flicked her fingertips across the hair that was falling against his eyebrows. "You look like you're feeling better," she said quietly.

Tony smiled. "The nap helped, too."

Pepper blushed and covered her face with both hands in a sudden bought of embarrassment. Tony laughed at her and stood—heading toward the shower in the far corner of the shop. "Care to join me?" he asked over one naked shoulder.

Pepper wrinkled her eyebrows and followed him with her arms crossed in irritation. "Fine—but you have to wash my hair."

Tony doubled back and playfully grabbed Pepper in a fireman's carry—leaving her with a nice view of his bare backside even while she squealed in surprise. It was tempting to pinch, but Pepper was terrified that he might drop her.

Instead she allowed him to set her gingerly on the stone ledge in the large walk-in shower. Tony started the water (nicely heated to a comfortable 85 degrees) and grabbed a bottle of shampoo off the ledge beside Pepper.

"Come here," he motioned and poured some shampoo in his palm. It smelled like _him…_

Pepper turned her back to him and smiled as he ran his soapy fingers through her hair. She leaned into him when he massaged her scalp.

"So does this mean you won't be upset when I ask you to dance tonight?" Tony asked as he helped her rinse the suds away.

Pepper grinned. "Possibly. It all depends on if you remember to bring me my drink."

Tony smiled back at her, scrubbed shampoo through his own hair in that "man" way, and tipped his head back into the spray of warm water. Pepper searched the ledge for a bottle of conditioner and found one that had barely been used. As she lathered her hair she turned to watch Tony use a bar of Lava Soap to get the last vestiges of engine grease off his face.

Pepper rinsed her hair again and licked her lips before speaking again. "I need to go home to change—and transfer your donation… _And _you still need to sign the letter to MIT."

"Commencement speech again?" Tony shut the water off and handed her a towel before grabbing one for himself.

Pepper squeezed water out of her hair and tucked the towel beneath her armpits. "Yes."

Tony grumbled something and folded his towel around his hips. "Fine. Um, I've got some new clothes for you in your room—"

They left the shower together and walked up the stairs in tandem.

"So you _do _buy me clothes…"

"What did you think they were?"

Pepper shrugged and pulled her bangs into their usual position. She briefly watched water roll down the side of his neck and considered just how much more boyish he looked with his hair as long as it was. She must have said something about it because Tony paused at his open doorway to look back at her.

"You think so?"

Pepper twisted her lips to one side and nodded.

With his best cheeky smile, Tony Stark ruffled his own wet hair and vanished into his bedroom to get dressed.

* * *

**TBC**

_Remember to review—and to those of you who have, thank you _so very _much. _


	22. Chapter 22

**Chapter Twenty-Two:**

Pepper walked down the stairs in a pair of ballet flats and a simple black dress to the sound of Tony playing something on the piano that she'd never heard before. He was half-ready for the charity auction—dressed in black slacks and a "hot rod red" oxford. His blazer was draped over the sofa along with a gold tie.

Pepper had not known that Tony could sing until he opened his mouth and did so—lovely smoky tenor notes flowed along with his fingers as they delicately played melodious chords that echoed through the living room. After a moment or two of watching her boss do this, Pepper stepped a bit closer.

Tony stopped.

"Thanks for getting a replacement so quickly," he said.

Pepper grabbed the gold tie off the sofa and motioned for him to stand. She hooked the imported silk around his neck and executed a double-windsor knot with a perfect dimple (one of Pepper's special talents). "You're welcome. I had no idea you could sing, too."

He smirked and helped her straighten the tie. "I've got to have _some _hidden talents."

Pepper hummed a response and stepped back a bit to observe the finished look. She nodded in approval and turned to grab the formerly forgotten paperwork off the petrified tree stump. "Signatures."

Tony unclipped a pen from the manila folder and signed the check along with the acceptance letter Pepper had written up for him. "Will that be all, Miss Potts?" he handed her the folder and pen.

Pepper smirked. "That will be all, Mr. Stark. If you'll excuse me I have plans for later tonight and I need to go home and get ready."

Tony liked this teasing side of Virginia Potts. A lot. "Hot date, Potts?"

"Oh, Mr. Stark… A girl doesn't kiss and tell."

Tony laughed and kissed her swiftly on her lips. "Though my heart burns with jealousy, I guess I won't keep you any longer."

Pepper smiled and walked calmly to the front door. "That's good, because the dress I got is harder to get on than it is to take off."

She stumbled slightly. _In flats, _she tripped over her own feet and blushed deep enough to shame a rhubarb. _What in the name of all things holy made me say _that _kind of thing?!_

Tony raised an eyebrow and ran his index finger across his mustache. "That's, uh, good news…" he cleared his throat.

Pepper gave a pathetic wave goodbye and vanished out the front door. Tony collapsed back onto the piano bench once he heard her car scream out of the driveway.

"This is a good thing, right Jarvis? I mean…"

As usual, Jarvis read into Tony's phrasing and tone and answered the unspoken question on the genius' mind. _"If you are worried about Miss Potts' wellbeing in regards to your current affairs overseas I think you will find that she is quite capable of handling herself."_

Tony glanced up at the ceiling and, not for the first time, seriously considered giving Jarvis a holographic likeness. It was much easier to talk to "someone" when you had somewhere specific to look. "She _did _do an outstanding job this weekend, didn't she?"

_"I believe your phrasing was: 'she saved my life,' sir."_

Tony grinned. "That she did."

Somewhere deep in Jarvis' programming, paternal approval seemed to flare to life. _"I am pleased that you finally overcame your insecurities and told her how you felt, sir."_

Tony scowled. "This is what I get for coding in that psychology mumbo jumbo."

_"Nevertheless, your vitals are much more stable than yesterday."_

"Mother hen," Tony grumbled beneath his breath. "Whatever, Jarvis. Call Hogan and tell him I'm going to need him to drive us tonight."

_"Yes, sir."_

Tony fiddled with the end of his tie and went back to playing the piano.

**TBC**

_Remember to review—and to those of you who have, thank you _so very _much. _


	23. Chapter 23

**Chapter Twenty-Three:**

* * *

Pepper stared at herself in her full length mirror—standing in the nude with a bottle of cover-up in one hand and a make-up sponge in the other.

She felt like she looked completely different.

There was a semi-circular bruise on her breastbone, her lower lip was still swollen from biting it hard enough to break the skin, and she had beard "hickeys" all over her. The embarrassing fact of it all was she was loath to cover any of these marks with make-up.

The clock reflected in the mirror noted that she had been standing in front of the framed glass for about twenty minutes. Her skin had long dried from her second shower and her hair hung in natural waves. The green dress was laid out on her bed.

Pepper sighed and gave up—dabbing cover-up on the telling bruise between her breasts. It took a while to hide the evidence of a well-spent afternoon. It seemed as though every blemish she covered up revealed two more.

With an irritated huff, Pepper threw her make-up onto her dresser and just gave up.

As she dressed herself she considered what to make of her current situation. She just did the one thing she had promised herself never to do when she first got the job as Mr. Stark's personal assistant. She slept with him. Worse…

She was in love with him.

And if Pepper Potts was honest with herself, she _had _been in love with him for quite some time.

Ever since he first smiled at her in a way he saved just for her. Their morning banter-fests at his house, the afternoon teasing in the office, and the evening baiting had escalated once he did that.

Pepper wasn't sure what changed his mind about her in the first place, but she did remember when it happened. It was four years ago on Saint Patrick's day—she had come into his workshop wearing a green blouse beneath her signature black suit and she had her grandmother's antique silver four-leafed clover pinned to her blazer.

He hadn't been wearing any green—in fact, Tony was working on mixing the paint for the Shelby Cobra he'd just finished remodeling and was covered in blue. He even had a smudge of grey primer on his cheek.

Because he wasn't wearing any green, Pepper immediately pinched his side before launching into the daily schedule.

Then Tony smiled. _Really _smiled. "Is it the seventeenth already?" he had asked.

Pepper remembered burying her embarrassment quite professionally and nodding. "Indeed it is, Mr. Stark."

Pepper finished adjusting the scoop neck of the dress and stared at the complete picture she made with the high heels and satin-smooth fabric that made her look even paler than usual.

_Green again,_ she wondered.

There was something poetic about the idea, but as Pepper applied a darker than usual shade of red to her lips (to hide the bruise that was _her own _fault) she wondered if Tony would see the connection.

_Probably not. He _is _a man._

Her telephone rang. Pepper dropped everything and grabbed the handset—answering without checking the caller ID screen first.

"This is Pepper."

"Virginia, it's your mother."

Pepper sank down to sit on the edge of her mattress and twisted a hank of hair in her free hand. "Mom? What's wrong?"

"I was calling to see if you were okay, Ginny. Your sister and I haven't heard from you in over a week. How are things?"

Pepper freed her hair and relaxed. "Things are great, Mom. In fact, I've got to go to a charity auction in about a half hour."

"Well are you busy this weekend? We should have lunch."

The way she said "lunch" was enough to set off Pepper's "Suspicion Radar." She narrowed her softly accented eyes at the closet door in front of her as if her mother was standing just eight feet away. "What's going on, Mom?"

"Nothing! Your sister and I would just like to sit down and see you in person. I mean, we all live in the same area and the only time I really get to see my Ginny is when she's standing over the shoulder of her boss on some news thing."

Pepper sighed. "Fine. Whatever. I've got tomorrow off—we can, I dunno, spend the day out," she cringed as soon as she said it. _Bad idea, Potts. _

"That sounds perfect, Ginny. I'll swing by your house in the morning, okay?"

"—Well, Mom—"

"Love you, bye!"

Georgia Potts hung up before her daughter could say anything.

Pepper sighed, dropped her phone on the bed, and headed for the liquor cabinet in the kitchen.

* * *

**TBC**

_Remember to review—and to those of you who have, thank you _so very _much. _


	24. Chapter 24

_Author's Note: Sweet mercy, 400 reviews?! I am humbly grateful for all of your comments and I'm so glad that you, dear readers, are enjoying this crazy thing I've been writing. Seriously, thank you! There is _much _more to come!!_

**Chapter Twenty-Four:**

* * *

Tony adjusted his tie for the fifth time before he opened the back door of the Rolls Royce and exited. Pepper's house stood before him like a bastion of comfort—it spoke of family outings to the beach beyond and long afternoons reading books and drinking sweet iced tea. For a brief moment, Tony wondered what it would be like to live there.

Pepper seemed to like it.

Before he could get to the stairs that led up to her covered porch his personal assistant—his _girlfriend—_opened the front door and locked it behind her with a single key.

One look at her and all the breath was knocked out of him.

_Christ, she's perfect…_

"Wow," he said as soon as speech capabilities returned to him. "You look… _Very _beautiful, Pepper."

Pepper smiled at him and blushed. "Thank you, Tony. You look handsome as always."

He took her hand and hooked it around his elbow.

"You're absolutely stunning—really. You've always looked fantastic in green," he added with a surprising glint of recognition in his eyes. Pepper smiled warmly at him.

"Thank you," she kissed him right at the corner of his mouth and held up the key in her free hand. "Would you mind holding this for me?"

"Of course not," he took the key from her and carefully placed it in the liner pocket of his blazer.

Happy stood by the passenger door and held it open for the pair of them. He was smiling slightly—a hint of sad joy in his eyes that spoke of a personal blow but a deep satisfaction to see Pepper as content as she was.

"Miss Potts, you look lovely," he said as Tony helped her slide across the back seat.

"Thank you, Happy."

He waited for Tony to settle beside her before he closed the door and returned to the driver's seat. At Mr. Stark's instructions he calmly drove to the Hilton.

Pepper was nervous. She'd been perfectly comfortable hanging off Tony's arm in private, but this… Flashbulbs were snapping as they exited the car and a near endless row of reporters were shouting at Tony for a quote.

It made the walk inside irritatingly slow. The doors to the reception hall revealed a _packed _room that started making Pepper feel decidedly _un_comfortable. She could feel the eyes sliding from Tony's face to hers and her active mind was creating a billion different headlines for tomorrow's papers.

_Stark Finally Bags Personal Assistant_

_Pepper Potts: Climbing the Ladder of Success the "Old Fashioned Way"_

_Who Does She Think She Is?_

_Scandal or Resolved Tension? This reporter's take on the strange Boss/Assistant relationship that Stark and Potts have had over the years._

Her grip tightened on Tony's arm. In an unconscious gesture, he bent slightly and kissed her on the temple in response to her distress. Immediately, scores of flashes erupted from the crowd outside. As the reporters were busy having conniptions and conversing with one another to find a way to combine their names in traditional Hollywood fashion (if you counted recent trends as "traditional").

Thank God for Mike Krahulik and Jerry Holkins.

The hosts of Child's Play popped up in front of Tony and dragged him and Pepper further into the reception hall. They were both grinning so wide that their faces had to be hurting.

"Hey there, Mr. Stark!"

Tony smiled and shook Jerry's hand. "Hey, Jerry—how many times do I have to say it?"

Jerry snorted. "Fine, 'Tony.' And Miss Pepper Potts is here with you tonight! What a surprise."

Pepper shook Jerry's hand and laughed when Mike intercepted and gallantly kissed her knuckles.

"Enchanted, Pepper."

Tony laughed and tugged Pepper back to his side. "Watch it, Mike."

The fellow creator of Penny Arcade grinned cheekily and winked at Tony. "Just saying 'hi.' Tony."

He glanced between Pepper and Tony and narrowed his eyes. Jerry got an elbow between the ribs when Mike saw that "something" that indicated a significant relationship change between the billionaire genius and his personal assistant. "Something in this picture looks vaguely familiar, huh Jerry?"

Jerry rubbed his chin and snapped his fingers after a moment. "Aha! You two are twitterpated! What are you standing here wasting time with us for? Dance! Drink! You missed the silent auction, but the live one starts in about an hour." He poked Tony in the chest—safely to the side of the arc reactor.

"Before you go, can we borrow you for something later, 'Iron Man?'"

"I see no one can pull the wool over your eyes, fellas. What is it?"

"Geeky conversation," Mike interrupted.

"As long as I don't see myself getting picked on in the next Penny Arcade, you've got it."

They parted ways. Tony led Pepper to the open bar and rested a hand on her bare lower back.

"Love the dress, by the way. You should wear this backless stuff more."

She smacked his arm. "Get me my drink, Mr. Stark."

"Yes, Miss Potts."

Pepper _finally _got to enjoy that extra dry vodka martini he failed to get her at the last benefit. Of course, Tony was giving her a heated gaze the whole time she sipped at it. "Good?" he asked.

Pepper sucked an olive off the little sword it was impaled on. "Better."

"Tease."

"Who's teasing?"

Tony grinned and ate one of his own olives. "Are you suggesting something for later, Miss Potts?" he spoke around his mouthful.

Pepper shrugged. "I might be, Mr. Stark."

He vaguely wondered when he'd smiled this much in one evening—smiled and truly meant it. "We _are _in the Hilton."

"Perv."

"You're Miss Suggestive. I'm not alone in Perv Land."

Pepper laughed. Mid-giggle she made the mistake of glancing over Tony's shoulder at the other guests. A familiar blonde head popped up in the crowd.

Christine Everhart.

Vanity Fair did _not _cover Child's Play.

"You have a stalker, Tony."

From the tone in her voice, Tony knew exactly _who _she meant.

"Vanity Fair bimbo?"

"Mm," Pepper nodded and sipped at her martini. Tony rolled his eyes and made a point to keep his hand entwined with hers on the bar top. "She's looking over here and… Yep. Here she comes."

Tony twisted on the barstool to face Pepper completely. Fortunately for him, Pepper was extremely good at her job—and she took a secret joy in cutting down these moronic women Tony used to have brief flings with.

"Miss Everhart, I had no idea that Vanity Fair covered Child's Play. Or did you make a donation?"

A cold look came over Christine's face. "Excuse me, Miss Potts, but I'm here to speak with Mr. Stark."

Pepper slid gracefully off her barstool and calmly smiled down at the other woman. "Mr. Stark is not taking any questions at this time. Should I write that down on something? Because I've noticed that the concept seems to elude you."

Christine Everhart shoved a strand of bleached hair behind her ear and tried her best to look tough. "It's about something that occurred two days ago in Afghanistan. Three weapons caches were destroyed by Iron Man and—"

Tony intervened, standing as well and wrapping an arm loosely about Pepper's waist. "Then you already know what happened. No need to harangue me about it."

He directed Pepper to the dance floor and fell into an easy waltz with her. "Well handled, Pepper."

"Someone needs to punch her," Pepper grumbled. It brought a wide smile to Tony's face.

They danced uninterrupted for just one song—then Mike and his wife cut in and they were forced to swap partners. Two songs later, the crowd was directed to the dining area and Tony finally got to rejoin Pepper at a table in the front row where their meals were hot and waiting for them.

They were allowed to eat in peace for about twenty minutes that was filled with meaningful looks and mumbled conversation around pieces of steak, sautéed mushrooms, and crisp Romaine salad. Halfway through dinner, Tony pulled his blazer off and loosened his tie. Pepper wished she had something to adjust with her wardrobe… She was feeling a bit hot as well.

The combination of her martini, two glasses of merlot, and the way Tony was looking at her was making Pepper feel slightly dizzy. After the waiters came around and started to pick up the dishes and refill empty wine glasses, Jerry and Mike stepped up on a dais at the front of the room and thumped on a microphone.

"Okay!" Jerry smiled and introduced himself and Mike (as Tycho and Gabe of Penny Arcade) before he launched into his memorized speech. "As you know we recently reached just over one point six million dollars in donations for the Children's Hospitals around the world."

Mike cut in. "After tallying up the donation checks for this year's charity dinner—and despite the fact that we've held this one earlier that usual—we have made a fantastic discovery. This evening we received a check for ten _million _dollars from our good friend Mr. Tony Stark!"

Applause erupted.

Jerry grabbed the mic again. "Wonderful to know that beneath that Iron Man suit there's still a gushy-hearted guy who really cares about these children, huh?"

More ecstatic applause.

Pepper glanced at Tony across the table and noticed that his eyes were shining strangely.

The guys talked some more—explained how the auction would work and how the silent auction went earlier in the evening.

By the end of it all, Tony had bid on and won a print of his favorite Penny Arcade comic, an autographed maquette of Samus Aran from Metroid Prime, and a sketch Mike had done just before the start of the auction—he had draped a sheet of Bristol paper over it and just before it went up as the last item he gave Tony a significant wink over the rim of his glasses.

By the end of the evening Pepper felt like she'd spent less time_ with_ Tony and more time _watching_ him. He had to wait in a line of other item winners to collect his loot and write a check for it all, and Pepper bit her lip in indecision.

She had an idea.

An impulsive one.

Quickly, she walked to the front desk rented a suite with the credit card she borrowed from Tony's pocket, and returned to her chair like she'd never left it. Nervously, Pepper flicked the keycard for the room with her fingernails. Tony noticed.

Oh, how he'd noticed…

* * *

**TBC**

_Remember to review—and to those of you who have, thank you _so very _much. _


	25. Chapter 25

_Author's Note: Two in one day? I can't help it. I love you guys and I hate leaving ya'll hanging!_

**Chapter Twenty-Five:**

* * *

Tony dropped his loot off in the Royce and told Happy to head on home—that they would be staying late and he should get some rest. Skillfully, he dodged Mike and Jerry and tugged Pepper toward the elevators.

"You are a genius."

She grinned nervously as he slid his blazer around her bare shoulders. They leaned against each other—both so consumed by anticipation that the rest of the hotel seemed to fade into the background. The sensation of their fingers intertwined was enough to pull them out of reality and into the coming moment.

About three yards behind them (hidden behind a potted ficus), Christine Everhart pulled her phone out of her clutch purse and started taking pictures. The elevator light came on and she carefully maneuvered herself into a better position for a good shot.

The doors opened and Tony pulled Pepper to one side to allow an elderly couple off. Five seconds after Mr. and Mrs. Howell cleared the area, Tony grabbed Pepper around the waist, lifted her clean off the floor, and twirled to slam backwards into the side wall of the elevator.

Christine's mouth gaped open involuntarily as the prim and proper Pepper Potts tugged off Tony Stark's gold tie and fastened her lips on the skin that the restrictive clothing revealed.

Tony banged his head on the wall and let his eyes fall closed. He blindly flailed one hand out and hit a random button on the panel—somehow hitting the right one on his second try.

Just as the doors closed, Christine heard him murmur three words that knocked the wind right out of her.

"Love you, Pepper…"

Metal clicked against metal and Christine was left in the silence of the lobby with a dilemma on her hands—_in _her hands, actually. She tapped the phone against her acrylic fingernails and replaced it in her purse. First and foremost, Christine Everhart was a reporter. And this… _This _was damn good for sales. Her editor would pass out when she showed him the photos stored on her phone. Not to mention the guys she knew at _The Chronicle..._

A minute later on the wrong floor, the elevator doors opened to reveal the oblivious couple. Tony pried his eyes open long enough to look at the number on the wall and stumble forward a bit.

"This it?"

Pepper glanced over her shoulder and shook her head. The doors closed again on their laughter.

Tony gently stood Pepper on her own feet again and cupped her cheeks. "This is really spontaneous of you."

Pepper shyly looked down at his shoes. "I feel like a teenager again…"

"You made out with guys on elevators in the Hilton when you were a teenager?"

"No!"

Tony laughed at her—Pepper scrunched her nose and smacked his arm. "Shut up."

He calmed down and grabbed the hand she'd slapped him with to kiss her knuckles. He held her eyes even as the doors opened again—on the correct floor this time. "This it?" he asked again.

Pepper turned her head a bit to check the floor number and got a kiss on her jaw line for her trouble. Even as she stifled a laugh when his beard tickled the skin of her neck, Pepper grabbed Tony's hand and dragged him behind her off the elevator.

"Here."

Tony had the strangest urge to lift Pepper into his arms as they walked down the silent hallway and came to a stop in front of the suite at the furthest end. Pepper dug the card key out of the front of her dress (giving Tony another reason to laugh) and, with an over dramatic flair, unlocked the door.

"Seriously, I don't think you realize just _how _spontaneous this is for you, Pepper."

She hung the "do not disturb" sign on the doorknob, locked the door with the slide bolt, and leaned against it to undo her shoes. "I do realize," she admitted. "And I blame it entirely on you. You're a bad influence."

Tony kicked his own shoes off and unbuttoned his shirt. "How's that?"

Pepper dropped Tony's blazer from her shoulders and reached beneath her left arm to undo the hidden zipper. She said nothing in response to his question—instead sliding her dress down her hips to pool around her ankles.

Tony raised an eyebrow halfway through tugging his belt off. Despite the loose fabric of his slacks, they were suddenly far too tight to be comfortable.

This whole night he'd danced with her, drank with her… And she was completely nude beneath that dress… The belt came out of the loops of his pants with a whisper and he tilted his head at her. "I am a bad influence, aren't I?"

She stepped closer and gave a quick nod—pursing her lips and narrowing her eyebrows at him. "Mm-hmm."

Tony tilted his head to the left and dropped his shirt on the floor. "Funny how I'm not really regretting that."

* * *

**_ADULT CONTENT UNTIL THE NEXT BREAK LINE:_**

* * *

Pepper grinned and paused directly in front of him—shoving her hands in the waistband of his slacks. She popped the button loose with her thumb. As she ran the edges of her fingernails down his inner thighs (pulling his pants down as she went), Tony lost higher brain function.

As payback, Tony pinched one of her nipples and bent to sooth the action with his tongue.

"Ho-boy…" Pepper squeaked.

Tony shuffled backwards, tripped over the falling legs of his slacks, and fell backwards onto the king-sized bed in the center of the room. Pepper landed on top of him with a laugh—despite being jarred in the stomach by his arc reactor.

He leaned his head back against the bedspread and put on his best "disapproved" face. "Hey, now, I didn't laugh when you were sucking on my adam's apple earlier," he pointed at the hickey she'd made on his throat. Pepper clucked her tongue at him and bent backwards to yank his boxers off with his slacks. The arch of her back did all sorts of interesting things to her breasts.

So interesting, Tony _had _to run the tips of his fingers across her pale skin. Pepper grinned and slid further down his body to straddle the tops of his thighs and run her warm hands across the velvet smooth skin of his erection in retaliation. Tony groaned.

Pepper swallowed to try and ease the irrational butterflies in her stomach (after all, they'd done this once already—what was there to be nervous about?). "Fast or slow?"

Tony seemed to be having the same nervous hiccup in behavior, because he bit his lower lip and tried to breath through his nose. "Uh, I'm kinda… On the edge here. Have been all night…"

"Fast," Pepper nodded and swiftly angled herself against him. She grabbed one of the hands he had resting on her shoulders and placed it between their bodies with the non-vocalized order for him to speed things up.

He paused before letting her move—taking that same hand and sucking on three of his fingers. With a wink and a light swat on her behind he resumed the position and lifted his knees to get her to sit with him directly inside of her. He roughly dragged his slicked fingers across her clit and tossed his head back against the mattress when she involuntarily _clenched _around him.

"Fast," he reminded her between gasps.

Pepper dropped her forehead against his neck and sucked on the muscle between his jaw and his shoulder—carefully moving her body in a rhythm that was going to tire her out in less than a minute and if Tony didn't do anything to—

He pinched her.

"Jesus CHRIST!" Pepper shouted and stopped moving as he did it again. His hot breath fanned across the back of her ear and the strange combination of sharp sensation followed by the usual pleasurable kneading pushed her over the edge just as every muscle on him tightened. Pepper continued to swear and slap uselessly at his shoulder as they both came down from that orgasmic high. Just before she could move into a more comfortable position, Tony removed his hand from between her thighs and sucked on those three fingers again.

* * *

_Lascivious is a good look for him,_ Pepper decided just before she rubbed her head against his shoulder and tangled both their legs and their hands together.

As the exhaustion that coursed through her, and her eyelids grew heavy enough that her lashes teased the bare skin of his arm, Pepper swore she heard Tony ask her something.

"So how was _that _dance?"

* * *

**TBC**

_Remember to review—and to those of you who have, thank you _so very _much. _


	26. Chapter 26

_Author's Note: Once again, thank you for all of your reviews. They truly mean a lot to me. And, just so everyone knows, I'm making a conscious effort to write chapters longer than the following. Enjoy!_

**Chapter Twenty-Six:**

* * *

Saturday came too soon. They took a cab back to the estate, showered and changed, and talked about the day's schedule over a breakfast of Cocoa Puffs and strong coffee. Around ten (after Spongebob) Pepper did a quick "hi and bye" at the door as Rhodey arrived and trudged off to meet her mother at her own house. She'd be getting hell for coming over from Tony's estate (in one of his cars, no less), but after last night… Nothing could pry the grin off her face.

Nothing except the photo on the cover of the lifestyles section of _The Chronicle_ that Georgia Potts was waving at her.

"What the hell is this, Virginia?"

_Apparently, it's a grainy photo of me and my boss making out like randy teenagers in the elevator. With a plant leaf in the foreground. And that _is _Christine Everhart's name as the credit. _The headline: _Scandal or Resolved Tension? The relationship that Stark and Potts have had over the years— _was almost screaming at her in bold font sized at least at 72 points.

"Oh my God."

Her mother jabbed a finger at the Prius she'd driven to her daughter's home. "Get in the car. We're going to your sister's."

"What?!"

Georgia closed her eyes and held up the paper again. "You are _not _supposed to get involved with your _boss, _Virginia! Never! Especially not someone like Tony Stark."

Pepper stood her ground in her own driveway and jabbed a finger at the paper. "That? You don't even know what—"

"He only wants what he always does, Virginia."

"No."

"No?" Georgia flung the paper into the open back seat of the Prius and slammed one hand on the roof. "What the hell are you talking about? Are you saying he loves you? Is that what he told you? Because a man will say anything to—"

"You don't even know him, Mom. You've never _tried _to get to know him."

"I don't need to. It's all printed in black and white"

Pepper ground her teeth together. She wasn't one for emotional outbursts, but she and her mother had been having almost this same argument for years now. She jabbed a finger between the two of them. "_Fuck _the papers, Mom! The papers don't tell you anything truly personal about the man and they certainly do not emphasize the fact that yes, he _is _a man like the rest of the world—he just happens to be really smart as well. He eats peanut butter sandwiches, works so hard that he forgets to sleep, plays the piano when he needs to relax from everything, and he is a genuinely decent man who _loves me_."

Georgia slapped her daughter's hand out of the air and pointed right back at her. "Don't you _ever _swear at me again."

"Were you even listening to me?" Pepper shouted. She didn't think she'd ever been so mad in her life—and it wasn't that she and Tony had been caught, or that one of the billion headlines she'd imagined now decorated the top of the lifestyles section—it was simply the fact that this gave her mother that extra ammunition against Tony.

Her cheeks even felt hot. "Mom, Tony Stark is a decent man and I love him. Trashy articles and bitchy blonde reporters be damned."

Georgia stared into her daughter's eyes for several long moments—recognizing something within them that used to spark up her own baby blues. "Honey…"

Pepper waved her hand in irritation and swiped at her eyes. Hot tears were lying just beneath the surface—waiting for something to crack within her. When it finally did, she covered her mouth with both hands and sank to her knees on the concrete. Her mother was quick to envelope her in a warm embrace.

"Shhh… Ginny, hush now."

Pepper sobbed wetly between her fingers. "I just don't want you to hate him anymore!" she groaned.

"He's put you through so much," Georgia excused, thinking about those three months that her daughter spent looking like an extra for _Night of the Living Dead_ and the confusion of the weeks following Stark's return home. She cleared her throat and rubbed the back of her daughter's head. "It's going to take some time."

Pepper broke free of her mother's embrace and stood up, wiping her face and circling the Prius. "Let's just go to Caroline's."

Georgia Potts nodded and climbed into the driver's seat.

* * *

**TBC**

_Remember to review—and to those of you who have, thank you _so very _much. _


	27. Chapter 27

**Chapter Twenty-Seven:**

* * *

Rhodey cast a curious glance at the front door as it slammed shut behind a rather casual looking Pepper Potts. He pointed a thumb over his shoulder and followed Tony down into the workshop.

"What's with her?" he asked.

Tony stepped over the metal framing that used to cut the shop off from the rest of his home and glanced back at his friend quizzically. "Whaddya mean?"

"Pepper. She seemed a little," Rhodes cut himself off, the proverbial light bulb going off in his head. "Wait a sec—you and her…" he did some strange hand gestures and made the most ridiculous face Tony had ever seen.

Tony bit the inside of both of his lips and smothered an inappropriate laugh. He recovered after a moment—waved his hand at Rhodey's little finger puppet freak show. "We? What, exactly?"

Rhodes grinned. "_Finally._ You two finally resolved that weird sexual tension thingy you had goin' on, didn't you?"

Tony blinked at his friend. "Weird?"

Rhodes nodded and leaned against the desk. "Every time I walked into a room and interrupted whatever you were doing it was like you two were already knacking on each other with words or something."

Tony pointed at him and grinned. "Did you just say 'knacking?!'"

Jim slapped the hand away and shrugged out of his leather jacket. "Shut up. Where do I stand for this scan thing?"

Business as usual… Tony grabbed a pair of shades off the cluttered desk. "Put these on and stand in the center of that launch pad. Jarvis?"

_"Yes, sir?"_

"Initiate scan of our dear Lieutenant Colonel Rhodes, would you? Project file Mark III-WM store it on my personal server. Jimmy, close your eyes, stand at attention, and try not to move."

Rhodes quickly did as Tony instructed.

"Go, Jarvis."

_"Scanning…"_

Tony checked the computer display as lasers collected data and fed it into the system. After almost two minutes of fine-tuning, Tony had a virtual scale model of Rhodey to design the War Machine suit around. "Okay, we're done with that…"

Rhodes peeled the sunglasses off and slid behind Tony to watch him work.

His fingers were moving furiously over the pressure keyboard. The shorthand keys were one of Tony's first ideas when creating his own computer systems. Rhodes often wondered why he hadn't started marketing some of these things.

"Steve Jobs would kill to have some of this stuff, you know," he commented.

"I like where Steve is going with his stuff—hell, I use some of his systems… But I made a deal with him not to release any computer systems until 2010," Tony smirked and saved the new file. With his stylus, he selected one repulsor arm and dragged it from the furthest screen over to the work table.

"Stick your arm in there and let's see if the fit is right."

Rhodey shrugged and did so. It was odd, not feeling anything around his arm or fingers—but Tony's sharp eyes caught a few details when he experimentally wiggled his thumb.

"Joints are a bit snug around your hands…" he did some quick and probably obscenely impressive mental math and changed the measurements through Jarvis' help. The image expanded just slightly, but Jim could see that his fingers definitely fit better inside the glove.

"Damn, man…"

Tony flipped the stylus over the backs of his fingers and grinned outrageously. "Cool, huh?"

"Bitchin'," Rhodes "slid" his arm out of the hologram and sat on a work stool to stare at it. "So what's next?"

Tony saved the file again. "You liked the silver, right?"

"Yeah. It's slick, Tony."

Tony eyeballed his Audi for one moment, taking in the black paneling with an artistic gleam in his eye. "You're absolutely right. Okay, Jarvis! Throw just a smidge of matte black in there. Other than that, is everything ready?"

_"Components are prepped and ready. Shall I begin machining the armor?"_

"Make it so, number one."

_"Time to completion: three hours."_

Tony smiled and clapped Rhodey on the back with his right hand. He was still taking half a Demerol each morning but had given up on wearing his brace—instead, he tried to avoid using his left hand. "Wanna go get lunch?"

Rhodes pulled his jacket back on and tossed Tony's leather jacket at him. "I want a hamburger, Tony."

Tony walked toward the back of the shop and grabbed the keys to the R8 off his desk. "Damn, that sounds good."

"Diner or what?"

"Diner," Tony grinned and hopped into the car. Teasingly, before his friend was settled in the passenger seat, he sped out of the garage and hit the road at a jarring pace.

He laughed at Rhodey's muttered: "_Jackass." _

It was a while before Tony settled on an out of the way diner that he'd eaten at repeatedly. They sat on red vinyl stools and ordered from a woman who impulsively ruffled Tony's hair like an old aunt who hadn't seen him in ages. Without asking, she grabbed two Miller Lites from the fridge behind the counter and popped the caps off—setting the bottles in front of both men.

"You made the paper's again, son," she said as she opened her own bottle of beer.

"Well, I did get out of my house last night, Val."

She produced a copy of _The Chronicle_ from that magical place beneath the counter and, much as she had done with the beers, plopped it in front of Tony.

The beer paused halfway to his open lips. Rhodes mirrored him almost perfectly.

"'Bout time, if you ask me," said Val, tapping a work-worn finger on the image of Tony Stark kissing Pepper Potts beneath the obscenely huge headline of: _Scandal or Resolved Tension? The relationship that Stark and Potts have had over the years._

Silence… And then:

"Order up!"

Val disappeared into the kitchen to get their burgers. Rhodes set his beer down. "Do you think Pepper has seen this yet?" he asked.

Tony had to swallow three times to clear the knot that had clogged his throat. "Most likely."

Val magically took the paper away and slid two hot plates with hearty burgers and steak fries on the countertop.

Rhodey shoved a fry in his mouth. "Think she's mad?"

Tony drained his beer. "Probably."

"Where is she today?"

Tony groaned and dropped his face into his hands. Through his twined fingers, he blurted out the four words that had been nagging at the back of his brain all morning.

"She's with her mother…"

Rhodey thumped him between the shoulders. "Enjoy your last meal, my friend."

Tony groaned.

* * *

**TBC**

_Remember to review—and to those of you who have, thank you _so very _much. _


	28. Chapter 28

**Chapter Twenty-Eight:**

* * *

Caroline Crane (formerly "Caroline Potts") whistled sharply to direct whomever was ringing her doorbell to just walk around the back of the house and join her on the patio. It was after noon and she was sipping an icy strawberry daiquiri while her husband, Stephen, grilled some pineapple slices.

She was slightly surprised when her mother rounded the corner with her older sister in rather _reluctant _tow.

Caroline shifted her sunglasses up on top of the pile of red hair she had pulled into a half-twist and shifted sideways in her barcalounger. She grinned when she saw Pepper's embarrassed face.

"You _should _be embarrassed, Ginny. Practically caught fornicating on camera…" Caroline clucked her tongue and shook her head from side to side. "So shameful."

She stood and sipped at her drink. "It's also about damn time."

"Hey, Stephen."

The tow-headed man removed pineapple slices from the grill and waved with the tongs he was holding. "Hey, Pepper. Want one?"

"Sure."

Georgia sat at the empty patio table and looked longingly at the pitcher half-full of frozen daiquiri. She vaguely heard Stephen's mumbling of: "Good afternoon, Mom."

As Pepper slumped into the barcalounger next to her sister's and munched on the pineapple slice Stephen handed to her. Caroline leaned over and wrapped an arm around her shoulders. "Cheer up, Ginny! _I_ like him. Stephen likes him. My only complaint is we've never met him."

"Oh, we're gonna meet him now," their mother chimed in. She was drinking straight from the pitcher. "And Stephen only likes him because he _has _to."

Stephen shook his head. "Not true, Mom. Mr. Stark is an excellent boss who actually listens to you when you've got something to say during R&D meetings. Plus, I never would have met Carrie if Pepper wasn't working for him."

"_This _is supposed to win me over?" Georgia complained.

"Mom!" Caroline snapped.

Georgia shrugged. "I was joking."

"We covered this already, Mom," Pepper sighed and licked pineapple juice off her fingers. "And you told me that you would _try _to see things my way."

"Did he say 'it' yet?" Caroline interrupted.

"What's 'it' supposed to mean, Carrie?" Pepper asked.

Caroline rolled her eyes. "Stephen, help me out here."

He brother-in-law cleared off the grill and leaned down to speak into Pepper's ear. "Does he _love _you?"

Pepper smiled suddenly, and the look on her face reminded Georgia of a sensation long lost in her own life. True love echoing through blue eyes and the slight turning of her lips. "Of course he does."

"And he's actually said The Words?" Caroline kept at it.

"Yes."

Stephen returned to his pineapple slices and grabbed one for himself. "More than once?"

"Yes…"

Caroline made a squeaking noise in the back of her throat and hugged her big sister. "I'm so _happy _for you! Mom, how can you not like the man who truly loves your eldest daughter?"

Georgia took a slice of pineapple from Stephen. "I just need to adjust. He's still her _boss_. And I'm not too happy with the fact that Ginny got her picture in the paper like some kind of floozy…"

"I called PR on our way down here, Mom. They're getting _The Chronicle _to print a retraction and legal is writing up a restraining order on Christine Everhart," Pepper said.

"That's who you were talking to? And they work on a Saturday?" Georgia asked.

"Lawyers are always on the clock," Stephen joked.

"Who says 'floozy' anymore besides you and Mickey Rooney?" Caroline asked her mother.

"You guys _really _know how to cheer someone up," Pepper chimed in. She shifted in her seat and idly wondered how she could escape this situation. Without thinking, the words escaped from her brain and somehow made it past her lips.

"I want to get back there."

"Ginny!" Georgia scoffed. "You said you had the day off!"

Caroline finally stood up and shook her head. "No, no—I think that's a fantastic idea. Why don't we all go with you?"

"Ugh," said Pepper. "He'd totally die…"

Georgia plonked the pitcher back on the patio table and dropped the remains of a perfectly good grilled pineapple slice into the mixture. "This sounds good—let's go! Ginny, you're gonna have to drive 'cause Momma had quite a bit of that," she jabbed a finger at the daiquiri mixture that now hosted one forlorn chewed-upon pineapple bit, "and you know how she gets when she's had some liquor."

"She starts talking in the third-person…" Stephen mumbled.

Caroline grabbed her sister's arm and dragged her to her feet. "C'mon _Pep!_ We'll all hang out at Tony's!"

Still quite unwilling, Pepper Potts sighed and walked back out to the driveway—sharing an exasperated glance with her brother-in-law along the way.

"I hate driving your car, Mom," Pepper complained.

"That's because you're too used to driving that high-octane ozone killing beast of a vehicle that you drive now. Momma's car is environmentally friendly."

_Momma's car can't turn sharp corners at high speeds to scare some sense into Momma, _Pepper grumbled mentally. Begrudgingly, she sat in the driver's seat of the Prius and started the engine with that pathetic half-electric whine.

_Cars that don't make you go "damn!" are just plain boring…_

It was something she and Tony Stark had in common way before Pepper began working for him.

With another dramatically heaved sigh, Pepper pulled out of the driveway and headed out of San Diego.

_This cannot end well…_

* * *

**TBC**

_Remember to review—and to those of you who have, thank you _so very _much. _


	29. Chapter 29

_Author's Note: Well, I'm all caught up. Updates will come slower because I no longer have a few chapters written ahead of time. With over 450 reviews, I can say this is the most responded to fic I've ever written—and don't worry about the idea of me abandoning it. With this pairing, it's very hard to even _think_ about not writing them._

**Chapter Twenty-Nine:**

* * *

Tony was still trying to get Rhodes to shut up by the time he pulled into his garage. Jarvis indicated that the War Machine armor was finally assembled and Tony eagerly gained the opportunity to change the damn subject from his personal life (and, God help him, he had never in his life hit a woman but was seriously considering the action with Cathy Evenstar or whatever her name was) to something far less invasive.

Like shoving your annoying best friend into a suit of armor that he has no clue how to operate.

"Where's the power source?" Rhodey finally asked, circling the finished product like a man inspecting a new car.

_Gonna kick the tires, Rhodey?_

"Chestplate—same as mine," Tony tapped the arc reactor on his chest with that strangely satisfying (if muffled) _tinging _noise and grinned. "Well, without the painful surgery part. I made it a while back—before you totally blew me off that one day I showed up during one of your classes."

"Damn, Tony, that was…"

Quite some time ago. Right after he returned to the States, in fact.

The chest piece on the War Machine armor was shaped a bit like the "Superman" pentagon and was already glowing that soft blue that Rhodey could see through Tony's grey T-shirt.

"What's up with the shape?"

Tony shrugged and tossed a neoprene bodysuit at him. "Didn't want it to look exactly like Mark II. Jarvis, let's suit up."

_"As you wish, sir."_

Rhodey watched as the impressive silver and black armor slid beneath the opening panels of the test pad—totally immersed in just _observing _the machinery work to the point that Tony could zip himself into the awkward neoprene suit without even bothering to move to another part of the room.

He jumped when Tony tapped him roughly on the shoulder with a black-gloved hand. "Trust me, you need to wear the neoprene under the armor. Otherwise you end up with all kinds of cuts and bruises."

Rhodes nodded and stripped down to his boxer briefs—somehow pulling the neoprene on at the same time. It had to be a test pilot thing… Stripping and dressing at the same time, that is. Tony mentally catalogued the technique to use later—just in case he was in a particular hurry to get out of "Tony Stark" and into "Iron Man."

With a suppressed grin, Tony stood on the test pad and the robots assembled the Iron Man armor around him much faster (and simpler) than the last time Rhodes had seen it done. The pieces clicked together and fell in place in under a minute.

With the face shield still up, Tony moved off the test pad with surprising grace (for someone wearing a massive amount of titanium gold alloy) and gestured for Rhodes to stand in the same place. "Your turn, platypus."

Rhodes walked to the center of the test pad and jabbed a finger in Tony's direction. "What did I say, man?"

"Hey," Tony raised his armored hands in forfeit, "It slipped out, okay? Just because you wrote that one term paper on—"

"Shut up, Tony."

"I mean, you _asked _me to proofread—"

"You better stop it."

"And the pictures you found were just adorable…"

"Tony!"

Stark grinned stopped talking. He flipped from jovial to serious in less than a second and returned to the moment at hand. "Just step into the boots and do a swan dive pose. When the gloves come down, put your hands inside and hold on while the rest is put in place."

"Got it."

Rhodes had to admit, after being a test pilot for as long as he had, no stomach fluttering moment could compare to the one he was having right then. He was on the verge of bouncing on his toes. At least, he would have if his toes weren't currently trapped by some surprisingly comfortable titanium alloy boots.

"Hands, Rhodey."

Jim reached out and fit his hands into the metal gloves. He held on to the handles and watched out of the corner of his eye as his biceps and forearms were covered. It all felt heavy until the chest piece came down and connected power to the rest of the suit.

It felt like it was _floating _around him.

"Jesus, Tony… This is—" he was cut off as the helmet clicked into place around his head. The faceplate remained open, but the shock made Rhodes pause.

"Jarvis, are you uploaded into the War Machine armor?" Tony asked.

_"Indeed I have, sir."_

"Excellent. You ready, Rhodey?"

Rhodes stepped off the test pad and looked down at his hands. "This is amazing," he whispered.

He looked up and saw that Tony's forced smile (ever since Val the waitress had shown him the paper) wasn't forced any longer. There was a glee behind those brilliant white teeth that emerged in what sounded like a giggle that Jim remembered from days long ago when Tony still had that innocence of childhood within him. Somehow, this tragedy that happened to him reignited that dwindling spark of adolescence.

"You ready?" Tony asked.

Rhodey grinned right back. "Hell yeah."

They both dropped their faceplates and had to control a pair of rather geeky laughs.

After some minor explanations on how the systems worked, Tony had his friend hovering just above the floor. He joined him and they took a few slow trips around the shop (avoiding the cars at all costs) until Rhodey started getting the hang of it.

"Follow me," Tony instructed—he started to tilt himself in order to come screaming out of the driveway.

_"Sirs?"_

Tony paused. "What is it, Jarvis?"

_"You have visitors."_

"Can't it wait?" Rhodey asked impatiently.

_"I'm afraid not, Colonel Rhodes."_

Tony sighed and dropped back to the floor—popping the faceplate back up. "Give me visual, Jarvis."

One of the windows in the shop darkened and a CCTV feed replaced the pane. Pepper was looking into the security camera with a look of complete exhaustion.

"Why haven't you let her in, Jarvis?" Tony asked.

_"Miss Potts requested to speak to you first, sir."_

Tony pulled the helmet off completely and Rhodey reluctantly did the same. "I'll come back on Monday," he said.

Tony quickly shot him a weird, pouty, I've-just-had-my-play-time-cut-short look, but Rhodes continued to dismantle himself. Apparently, Tony had made the armor easier to take off after it had taken both Rhodey _and _Pepper to get him out of the Iron Man gear when Stane basically crushed it around him.

It was amazing Tony had only gotten away with a couple of cracked metacarpals and some wicked bruises.

"Jarvis, speaker," Tony ordered. The CCTV crackled to life with sound as well.

_"Good day, Miss Potts," _Jarvis greeted.

"Hi, Jarvis. Is Tony watching?"

_"Yes."_

"What's wrong, Pepper?"

"I'm trying to stall."

Tony grinned and he knew Pepper saw it on her own monitor, because she frowned slightly. "Get in here, Potts."

"Traitor."

"Just being a welcoming host, Pepper," he smiled wider and released the catches on his shoulders to get out of his own armor. "See you soon," he winked and cut the connection.

Rhodey was holding his clothes in one hand and staring at _his _helmet in the other. After a quick moment of indecision, he simply pulled his T-shirt and jeans on over the neoprene suit. He stuffed his socks in his pockets and shoved his feet into his boots with the speedy lacing that comes from years of practice. Tony wished he could follow his friend's idea, but he wasn't going to be leaving in under five minutes.

"Monday night—we're going for a longer test flight," Tony said, muffled through the shirt he was pulling on.

"Count on it," Rhodey nodded and clapped an open hand on Tony's shoulder a moment later. "I parked next to the garage—you mind if I take the long way out?" he pointed at the covered driveway.

Tony shrugged and muttered something to Butterfingers and Dummy about storing their dismantled armor. "Later."

Rhodes waved as he walked. "Good luck."

Tony winced.

"Tony?" Pepper's voice floated down the stairwell.

_"Sir, Miss Potts and her guests are waiting in the living room."_

"Be right up."

He took a moment of silent reflection (interrupted only by the sound of his robots gathering the discarded armor) to consider the conversation that was definitely about to happen. He wondered if Pepper had called legal yet…

With a deep breath, Tony climbed the steps and smiled warmly at the people scattered in his living room.

Pepper had her thumbnail clenched between her teeth.

Tony kissed her on the cheek in reassurance and pulled her hand down from her lips. "Hi," he said.

"Hi," she nodded shakily. "Um, this is my mom, Georgia, my sister Caroline, and my brother-in-law—."

"Stephen Crane! Good to see you outside of an R&D meeting," Tony grinned widely and shook Stephen's hand. "By the way, I've got a few things I wanted to talk to you about on Monday's meeting—_but _I'd like your input before I pitch it to the guys."

Stephen smiled back. "Sounds good, Tony."

Tony sighed in relief at not hearing someone call him "Mr. Stark" for once. He immediately turned to his other guests and fought the urge to bolt back downstairs. "Mrs. Potts, Mrs. Crane."

"'Carrie,' please, Tony," Caroline corrected.

"Is this relationship serious, or is my Ginny just another notch in your rather chipped bedpost?" Georgia interrupted—ruining the light mood.

Tony's smile fell almost entirely and he sat down on the very corner of his sofa. Pepper eased beside him and took his shaking right hand in hers—giving him three light squeezes.

_I love you._

He rather hard. "Pepper means everything to me, Mrs. Potts. And when I say everything, I mean I wouldn't be the man I am right now without her. I wouldn't be alive if it wasn't for her."

The confession smacked everyone in the chest with the force of a punch from a well-trained boxer. Pepper, in particular, clenched her fingers tighter around Tony's.

Georgia swallowed the rock of emotion that had since formed in her throat and nodded shakily. "Okay."

"Wow," said Caroline.

Georgia slyly swiped a hand across her eyes and nodded a little more surely. "Okay. And the photo in the papers?"

"Mom, I already told you—"

"That was a private moment spit upon by a spiteful, stalker-like woman that's getting a restraining order slapped on her," Tony interjected. "Right?" he whispered to Pepper.

"Handled, Tony."

Georgia glanced between them and diverted her eyes to the wall behind the piano. As she pondered the idea of the severe breach in employer/employee relations a pair of framed drawings caught her eye.

One was a comic strip that had been recreated using gouache and heavy ink. Her gaze drifted across the wall and locked onto the second framed drawing.

It was done by the same hand that did the comic strip and depicted her daughter in a beautiful green dress—the same dress that she wore in the scandalous photograph—dancing with Tony Stark.

She looked back at Virginia and Tony and watched them both speak animatedly with Caroline and Stephen.

Involuntarily, she smiled.

Tony saw it out of the corner of his eye and smiled as well.

* * *

**TBC**

_Remember to review—and to those of you who have, thank you _so very _much. _


	30. Chapter 30

_Author's Note: I am SO sorry for the delay... I had two deaths in my family and didn't feel very inspired to write so much as a to-do list for the longest time. Right now, classes are taking a lot out of me and I'm afraid that the workload has left me sapped for inspiration where writing is concerned (but I _am_ due to graduate in just two more quarters, so there's that!). That last one is a lame excuse, but it's true. And watching new movies doesn't help (especially when I started getting other ideas). Buh. I feel like such an ass... And I'm afraid this latest chapter isn't up to par with the rest._

**Chapter Thirty:**

It took almost three hours of drinks and conversation for Pepper's family to be fully satisfied at the thought of her maintaining an adult relationship with Tony. Though, cleverly, the topic was never breached. Caroline and Georgia had asked their questions in heavily veiled euphemisms and Stephen, bless his heart, tried to steer the conversation back to the arc reactor engine that Tony briefly spoke with him about.

Tony was incredibly grateful for Stephen Crane.

On their way out the door, Tony invited the married couple over for dinner next weekend. At the smile Pepper tried to hide, he assumed she approved.

The door closed and encased the house in silence.

Ominous silence. The kind that _breathes._

Tony folded his hands together behind his back and clamped his teeth down on his lips.

"Tony—"

"You're mad at me, aren't you?" he burst out with and took three steps back.

Pepper looked at him strangely. "What are you talking about?"

"The photo."

Pepper crossed her arms over her breasts and shook her head. "I'm not mad at _you,_ Tony."

He heaved a sigh and stepped back once more to lean against the wall. "Oh my God," he groaned.

She walked up to him and cupped his cheeks in her hands. "You thought I would be mad at you?"

"Mm-hm," he breathed nervously.

"I'm mad at a certain bleach-haired reporter, Tony."

She felt the muscles of his jaw tighten and was surprised to see such strong _anger _in his eyes. The rest of his body tensed like a coiling spring and he breathed harshly through his nose.

"Tony?"

His intense eyes bored into hers and Pepper found herself _stuck_ within his gaze. She couldn't move. And when he grabbed her shoulders and slammed her against the wall she didn't really _want _to move away. Especially not when he kissed her like _that…_

He backed her up against the wall and grabbed her left thigh—lifting it around his hip and running his hand beneath her skirt to rub his knuckles across the front of her panties. Pepper moaned into his mouth and drove one of her hands underneath the waistband of Tony's jeans.

In a contrast to last night, _Tony _was the one going commando today.

"Thank _God,"_ Pepper groaned and squeezed her hand. She wasn't going to have to wrestle him out of a pair of boxers.

Tony laughed against her throat and pressed his hips between her thighs. The back of her head bumped uncomfortably into the wall, but that sensation was completely trumped by the feel of his fly pushing against her.

That had to be killing him.

While Tony pulled her blouse apart to suck on her collar bone, Pepper twisted her hand around and managed to undo his pants.

Pepper didn't waste time stripping. Tony pulled her blouse open and made quick work of the clasp on the front of her bra. He was beginning to think she wore these for his benefit…

Tony ran his tongue between her revealed breasts and breathed her in. She still smelled like the Irish Spring soap from his shower and just _Pepper_. Her nails dug into his scalp and she shifted her hips against his—silently urging him to continue his earlier frenzy.

When just her fingernails weren't doing what she wanted, Pepper tugged hard to pull his left ear right beside her lips and she blew hotly against his earlobe.

"Tony," she whispered, "Just _fuck me._"

"Jesus Christ," Tony gasped and pressed her harder against the wall.

Pepper laughed—throaty and promising. With a quick move of her thumb, she shifted her panties to one side and pulled Tony's jeans halfway down his backside. "Come on," she urged.

Tony ran his teeth along the elegant line of her jaw and nipped at the skin beneath her ear. "Come on and do what?"

"You just want to hear me talk dirty, don't you."

"Guilty."

"_Fuck _me, Tony."

He slanted his lips across her gasping mouth and roughly thrust into her body—shifting her up against the wall and causing her to bang her head again. It was uncomfortable and it hurt, but Pepper yanked the collar of Tony's T-shirt away from his neck and she bit down hard on his neck. He stumbled slightly and hissed—one hand tightening to the point of bruising against her buttocks. They pushed against one another—taking instead of giving.

Tony grabbed Pepper's ponytail and pulled her teeth away from the muscle of his neck—brutally smashing his lips against hers. She bit him again and pushed at the back of his knee with her heel as hard as she could.

They fell to the floor—Pepper's knees crunched against the hardwood and the back of Tony's head gave an alarming _crack_.

"Oh _God,"_ Pepper gasped. He was in _deep. _So deep that she had to sit still for several minutes.

Tony released his death grip on her backside and moved his hands around to gently hold her hips beneath her skirt. He tried speaking, but nothing came out. He had to clear his throat twice before a weak, croaking noise managed to escape.

"Are you alright?"

Pepper heaved against him and gulped down as much air as she could. It made her feel even _more _light-headed than she already was, but _damn_…

Tony shifted gently beneath her—resting her weight against his thighs instead of the hard floor. She breathed a little easier. Her inner muscles clenched and released in irregular spasms and Tony held his breath and thought of the most mundane things imaginable. Paper work. The Schrödinger equation. The opening bars to Metallica's "Enter the Sandman…"

He was so caught up in trying to think of something else that he failed to notice Pepper—relaxed and amorous—giving him that impatient look of hers.

"Tony?"

"…grain of sand. Of to never-never land," he sang under his breath.

Pepper smacked his shoulder. "Tony!"

"Ow. Sorry…"

She dropped her forehead against his chest—the arc reactor squashed her forehead uncomfortably. Ignoring it, she gripped one of his hands and dug her nails into the meat of his palm. Her knees were still smarting, but the rest of her body felt liquid… Electric…

Pepper gave Tony a teasing grin and shifted her hips against his. He sucked in a shaky lungful as she moved around him—her teeth nipping at his shoulders, his neck, his jaw…

She reached his ear again and, just as breathless as he, she gave him reassurance in a tone of voice he often dreamed about.

"It's okay, Tony. _Let go._"

He groaned and clamped his hands on her waist as his hips involuntarily jerked one last time. Pepper whimpered and ground herself against him.

Spent, the redhead slouched against Tony's body and listened to the insane speed his heart was beating at.

"I'm sorry," he gasped. The words rumbled through his chest and buzzed against Pepper's ear. It took her a moment before she realized he was still speaking about the photos.

She buried her nose against his shirt and breathed in the smell of him. "Will you stop saying that?"

"Can't help it," he reached a hand up to gently cradle the back of her head. "You're all I've got and I'm scared that this sort of thing will…" he couldn't finish. The look in Pepper's eyes was finite.

Loving.

"Tony, we've been a couple for years now. The sex is just a new thing. Let them take their photos and gossip all they want… Just know that this means everything to me, too."

She was right. As always.

Tony kissed her forehead and looked heavenward. "Thank you, Pepper…"

She smiled against his neck.

**TBC**

_Remember to review—and to those of you who have, thank you _so very _much. _


	31. Chapter 31

_Author's Note: I am not a lawyer and I don't pretend to know anything about the practice of law. Therefore, this chapter is no doubt rife with logistic errors. Let's just say that Stark Industries can actually do this sort of thing because they're _that _badass. _

**Chapter Thirty-One:**

Stark Industries lawyers had rushed Pepper's request for a restraining order against Christine Everhart and booked a courtroom Sunday afternoon with the honorable Judge Matthew Galloway taking time out of his personal day to preside over the case.

Christine Everhart was late.

Tony slouched in his chair and began spinning slowly out of sheer boredom. Pepper rolled her eyes and grabbed his armrest as it swung past her and jerked him to a stop.

"Knock it off," she admonished.

He fought the urge to pout and tugged on his goatee. After he hit his head on the floor last night, Tony had given in to the irresistible call of Demerol and took a full dose with his morning coffee. So, despite the seriousness of the meeting, the Boss was absolutely loopy.

The bailiff opened the conference room door and escorted a pissed off blonde and a tweed clad little man to the opposite desk. Christine pursed her lips and sat across from Tony—ignoring Pepper entirely.

"I'm here."

"Yes," Judge Galloway raised one eyebrow. "We can see that. Since you're _late_, we would like to get this started right away. Court is now in session. Mr. Hoyt, if you would begin?"

The first lawyer to Tony's left—an handsome older black man who sported a grey mustache—cleared his throat and stood. "Right. Miss Everhart, you were asked here today to discuss the terms of a restraining order. I have already spoken with your lawyer and—"

"This is outrageous." she interrupted.

Judge Galloway cleared his throat. "I've gone over Mr. Hoyt's case notes already—if your lawyer—"

"Mr. Ambrose," the man in tweed responded.

"If Mr. Ambrose will show me his case notes I'll be able to make my decision."

Ambrose immediately opened his briefcase and approached the bench with a thin manila folder that held his summary. Christine glared at him.

"Shouldn't we have been sworn in, or something?" she asked.

Mr. Hoyt removed two court documents from his zippered folio and gave them to the bailiff to hand to Mr. Ambrose.

Tony, hand still fiddling with his goatee, pointed at the papers with some amount of restrained anger. "The first is a restraining order. I thought six yards sounded like a nice round number."

"The second is a request for the immediate deletion of all photos you took during the charity auction," Pepper finished for him.

Christine paled.

There was a silent moment in which Judge Galloway slid on his reading glasses and read through the briefs in full. There had been other accounts of Christine's stalking of Tony observed by Harold "Happy" Hogan" that Tony still hadn't told Pepper about (and would totally hear about later). And the private moment splashed all over the tabloids was included with the write-ups.

"It's my understanding that you took those pictures with your phone," Galloway cleared his throat.

"That's right," said Christine.

The Judge leaned forward. "I am ruling in favor of Mr. Stark and Miss Potts' regarding the restraining order _and _these photos. Mr. Stark will be confiscating your memory card."

"All of my journalist contacts are stored on my memory card…" Christine hesitated.

Pepper handed Tony her Blackberry. "You'll be getting it back in a moment," she said.

Christine slid her cell phone past Mr. Ambrose for the bailiff to transfer across the aisle. Tony deftly removed the memory card, stuck it into Pepper's Blackberry, and erased all audio and visual files stored on it. With one free hand, he did the same to the files on her actual phone. Satisfied, Tony replaced the memory card and tossed the fairly useless piece of technology back to Miss "Brown."

Mr. Ambrose flipped the court documents to the last pages. "I'm advising you to sign these, Christine," he said.

Feeling as though some of her personal rights were being ignored, but not wanting to do battle with _Stark _lawyers, Christine Everhart signed the papers. But not without one last snipe. "Do you need me to prick my finger for these, as well?"

"Those sort of statements are entirely unnecessary," said Mr. Hoyt.

"Technically it was a question. And I would like to ask Mr. Stark something before I have to run six yards away."

"Shoot," said Tony.

"If Miss Potts is still your employee, are you paying her for the sex as well?" Christine asked with an arched eyebrow.

Pepper turned bright red and Tony clenched his hand around the edge of the table. In all honesty, he was inches away from hitting the blonde woman. Pepper reached over and gripped his tense hand.

"I mean, we're all agreed that prostitution is illegal, right?"

Judge Galloway held up a silencing hand. "Knock it off, Miss Everhart. I'm warning you."

"Seriously? You're just going to sit idly by and let this man fuck his employee? No consequences?"

Galloway actually slammed his gavel. "One more word out of you and I'll find you in contempt of court."

"But it's _wrong!"_ Christine shouted.

"That's it!" Galloway stood from his chair and Ambrose tried to get his client to calm down.

"Fuck it! Find me in contempt! Slap that restraining order on me! I don't give a shit. But when you deny the _people _the right to know what is going on with—"

"No one has the _right _to know every detail about my personal life! I have the right for some _fucking _privacy!" Tony interrupted.

"'Fucking' being the operative word here," said Christine.

"Hey! I _love _her!" he shouted. "Drag my name through the mud all you want, but will you leave this woman alone," he leaned forward intensely. "She has saved my life more than once and she is the _only _reason I am here today."

Pepper felt dizzy but was certain that Tony felt even dizzier as he swayed slightly on his feet. She tugged on his hand and got him to sit down again. The Demerol was throwing him off balance. Christine blinked uselessly and mulled over Stark's words.

_He loves her…_

It is not something that any man says easily. Especially not with that amount of conviction. Before Christine could open her mouth to apologize, Judge Galloway banged his gavel again.

"Court is adjourned. Miss Everhart, I suggest you get out before I have my bailiff drag you into county," he said flatly.

Mr. Ambrose lead the way. Christine looked back as the door was closing and saw Pepper Potts touch Tony Stark lightly on the cheek to get him to look at her. The kiss she gave him was sweet and comforting and the blonde couldn't help the surge of jealousy that raced through her blood then. It wasn't that she still had a thing for Tony—no, she'd been a fling and she knew it.

Christine was jealous of the devotion he had for Pepper.

Walking down the open staircase to reach the front doors of Stark Industries, Christine Everhart wondered if she would ever find such devotion for _her_ in any man.

**TBC**


	32. Chapter 32

**Chapter Thirty-Two:**

Pepper excused herself to her private restroom as soon as they returned to Stark Industries. She comforted Tony in the court room, but Pepper's "water-off-a-duck's-back" approach to the journalist's sniping slowly fell away the closer Happy drove them to the office. Christine's words had cut right through her heart.

She knew the rest of so-called "society" would see her the way Christine implied.

After those photos hit the printing presses…

Pepper hated having her photo in the paper and this was absolutely the worst possible thing she could have imagined ever being printed. Naked baby pictures were so very tame compared to the strange sight of herself abandoned to such carnality… Especially with her _boss. _A man who was almost constantly in the public eye—where she hated to be. And this whole thing would hurt him despite what he said.

Pepper sank to the floor and pressed her forehead into the plush carpet as the tears came up from that bottled place within her. Her mouth opened silently as she choked upon the sheer amount of anguish and she curled her back against the wall.

Her vocal block snapped with sharp wail that bubbled up from within her gut and exploded from the deepest part of her.

Tony burst into the restroom seconds after he heard her painful-sounding whine and he knelt on the floor to gather her into his arms. He didn't ask what was wrong—he didn't need to. He didn't even vocally reassure her that everything would be okay because he didn't really know that it would be.

He simply held her and tried to stem back his own tears as the love of his life came apart.

"Oh, Pepper," he whispered into her disheveled hair after a while.

Inexplicably, Pepper repeated the phrase: "_I'm sorry" _over and over until the words became less like words and more like sounds that had no meaning. Her lips moved and her breath whispered across those meaningless words until it just fell into a slight quaver in her chin.

Tony rocked her back and forth and pressed his mouth to her forehead and brushed his hand through her fringe. "You don't have to be sorry about anything," he assured and thumbed her tears away as best he could.

"I'm supposed to be stronger," she hiccupped.

"Says who?"

Pepper swiped at her nose.

"You're human," Tony reassured. "You're allowed to _be human,_ Pepper."

She felt a little better hearing his warm voice—feeling his breath against her ear.

He sounded distraught when he spoke some time later after Pepper had calmed considerably. "Aren't we both allowed to be human?" he whispered.

Pepper twisted in Tony's lap and pressed her face against his neck—her fingertips curled gently in his hair. "I love you," she reassured.

He sighed and Pepper almost felt some of the weight of the world lift from his chest and shoulders. "I love you, too."

Feeling more like herself, Pepper leaned back in his arms a bit and stroked his face gently. "You know the only other time I have ever broken down like that was when you were taken away from us all for three months?"

Tony pressed his forehead into Pepper's shoulder and breathed her in.

"I hate that feeling, Tony."

"I know."

"What are we going to do?"

He had no answer for her and wished to God he would find one soon, but for the time being he had an idea that was far more _in-the-moment _than long term.

"We're gonna go home, change into some ridiculously comfortable clothes, eat popcorn and cookie dough, and watch a marathon of horror films until we pass out on the couch."

Pepper gave a tiny smile. "Sounds like a plan."

**TBC**


	33. Chapter 33

**Chapter Thirty-Three:**

Pepper was mildly surprised when Tony directed his Audi towards her neighborhood. At her curious look in his direction, Tony simply shrugged and draped one arm around her shoulders.

"I don't have any cookie dough."

Pepper felt herself smile a little.

As he parked his car in her driveway and held her front door open for her to walk through. Whatever Tony had in mind, Pepper was completely in the dark.

He bumped the front door shut behind him with his backside, patted Pepper on the shoulders, and directed her towards her bedroom. "Comfy clothes first, Potts."

"What are you up to?" she asked.

"Absolutely no good. Clothes!" he reminded.

Pepper sauntered up the stairs and snuck a glance back at Tony when she made the first landing.

"No peeking," he chastised—his back turned to her as he loosened his tie and shrugged out of his blazer. Pepper smirked and wondered when he had developed those eyes in the back of his head. Her uncanny sense of knowing what he was up to seemed to be rubbing off. With a confused smile, Pepper continued up to her bedroom with the sound of Tony slipping out of his office persona.

She took her time shedding her skirt suit piece by piece. Not bothering with finding a bra, Pepper slipped into her threadbare college T-shirt and another pair of Victoria's Secret sweatpants with "Live Pink!" screen printed down one leg. Tossing her clothes into a hamper, Pepper walked to her bathroom and grabbed a washcloth to clean her smudged make-up away.

The mirror reflected a face she didn't quite recognize. Something loosened within in her over the past few weeks and the blue eyes that blinked back at her reminded her of a loosely capped bottle—tears were just within draining but refused to spill beyond her eyelashes. The crying she had done earlier in her private restroom was only the beginning of things. Ten or fifteen minutes of wailing all over Tony was not going to be enough. She was a strong woman—she held it together for the better part of three horrible months when Tony was…

When everyone else thought Tony was _dead._

Pepper scrubbed the damp washcloth across her face and pulled her hair back in a haphazard ponytail.

_I'm not going to think about that tonight. Not this night. Not when he's _here _for me. _

She made a racket as she left her bedroom and put on a happy face that became more genuine with each step down the stairs. Tony had turned out all the lights, cued up a movie on her television, and stood in his boxers with a mug of hot chocolate in one hand and a package of Pilsbury chocolate chip cookie dough in the other.

Pepper's smile came easily. "What's in the DVD player, handsome?"

Tony handed her the mug of cocoa and directed her to the sofa with a crooked grin. "_Young Frankenstein,_ beautiful."

"And after?"

"I had no idea you were a fan of the _Saw _movies," he teased.

Pepper crawled into his lap and traced a finger across the mellow blue glow of his arc reactor. "And _after?"_

Tony pressed a kiss to her forehead. "Debauchery, of course," he rumbled the words into her hair and pressed "play" on the remote.

**TBC**


	34. Chapter 34

**Chapter Thirty-Four:**

Jim Rhodes took one of his leave days on Monday and commuted down to Malibu early. He drove leisurely for once—enjoying the view and thinking ahead about the test flight. He had the familiar sensation of a nest of wasps flying around in his stomach and he savored the buzzing flutters. It had been a few years since he'd been this excited before testing new technology.

Rhodey chalked it up to spending so many of his recent years _teaching_ instead of flying.

As he pulled up to the gated driveway of the Stark estate, the security camera blinked at him.

"_Good morning, Lieutenant Colonel Rhodes," _said Jarvis.

"Tony not letting me in?"

"_Nonsense," _the gates opened. "_Enjoy your day, sir."_

There was a distinct _tone _behind Jarvis's words. Rhodey squinted at the camera lens and drove forward slowly.

There was movement in the kitchen window.

Rhodes hopped out of his truck and juggled his gym bag and keys as he entered the key code that unlocked the front door.

He was immediately struck with the perfect smell of strong coffee.

"Oh, _damn_," Rhodey groaned and dropped his things by the door. "You'd have better made enough for me, Tony!" he called out.

A glass clattered against the granite countertop and Rhodes heard feminine swearing.

_What the hell?_

Jim rounded the corner and had to pause in the archway. Pepper, glass carafe of orange juice in one hand and the hem of a shirt in the other, stood dressed in Tony's boxers and MIT T-shirt in front of the flat cook top. She bit her lip and cleared her throat.

"Um… Hi, Rhodey."

"Pepper…"

"Tony, uh, just went—" she motioned to the walk-in pantry with the OJ, "—in there to find some cereal."

There was a green plastic basket full of chemically enlarged strawberries on the counter. Choosing to ignore Pepper's state of undress, Rhodey snagged the largest strawberry he'd ever seen in his life and shoved the entirety of it (well, minus the stem) into his mouth. "Bad timing on my part, huh?" he suggested around his mouthful.

Pepper cleared her throat and poured her juice. "Pretty much."

"I found it!" Tony suddenly exclaimed and jogged back into the kitchen with a box of Lucky Charms. He smiled tightly at Rhodey. "You're early," he said as he grabbed a bowl. "Like, super early. Didn't I say Monday _evening?_ I've still got an R&D meeting to go to."

"I mean, you are _really _early," Tony repeated himself.

"I can see that," Rhodey pointed at his friend's lack of shirt and vaguely gestured at Pepper's nude legs. He shoved more strawberry slices in his mouth. "I checked with a few military contacts yesterday. Our boys in Afghanistan are getting some unexpected heat in the Wakhan Corridor—I was hoping we could help 'em out today."

Tony immediately looked to Pepper as he grabbed milk out of the fridge. The redhead was unconsciously staring at the glowing arc reactor imbedded in her (boyfriend? Partner? Manfriend?) lover's chest. He could see the memory flicker behind her eyes—sticking her hand into the metal hole to remove a copper wire he couldn't reach—helping him replace the reactor again—seeing it for the first time… He swallowed thickly in the bright morning sunlight and watched her eyes roam across the faint scars Afghanistan had left behind on him.

Someone's stomach growled. Clearing his throat, Tony resumed his breakfast preparation and met Rhodey's eyes again.

"If the test flight goes well enough…"

Rhodey snorted.

Tony cut his eyes back to the bowl, jug of milk, and box of Lucky Charms. "…If it goes _well enough_, you have to promise me," he pointed at Jim with the sugar canister, "that you'll follow _my _lead. I know you're Mr. Military, but these situations are…"

"Different," Rhodes agreed.

Tony nodded and idly poured _more _sugar into his cereal even as he picked out some extra marshmallows for it. Beside him, Pepper took his discarded "plain" bits, dropped them into her own bowl, poured milk up past the top, and started spooning it all into her mouth. Rhodes watched her do this with a crooked eyebrow.

Pepper ignored him and swallowed her mouthful. "Hmph. And what will I be doing while you boys are out risking your lives? Sitting in front of the TV?"

Tony, having finished fixing his Lucky Charms, snapped the fingers of his free hand and shook his head. "Huh-uh. You _do _get to sit in front of the TV, _but!_" he grinned—sugar caught in his beard. "You get to yell at the both of us while we're out risking out lives. How's that?"

Pepper shrugged and reached over to brush the sugar off his face. "So that would make me base command?"

Tony snapped into a smart salute, and (feeling playful now) Rhodey copied him.

"Ma'am," said Rhodes.

Pepper rolled her eyes. "Knock it off, you two. And Tony, you do realize you've got a board of directors meeting in New York tomorrow, right?"

"I do now," he muttered into his coffee.

Pepper groaned. "If you get hurt and miss this one, I'll… I'll…"

"I won't miss it, Pep. I promise," Tony reassured.

"I'm going to hold you to that, Mister. And you'll need to make up the R&D meeting before the end of the week."

He nodded and walked briskly over to the stairwell. "You got it. Jarvis?"

"_Yes, sir?"_

"Link up the Mark III HUD with the house systems and give Pepper full access to main systems and communications."

"_Done."_

"Eyes on the main screen, Pepper. If I miss anything, you tell me."

Pepper shifted into a familiar stance—however softened by her attire. "Will that be all, Mr. Stark?"

Tony grinned widely. "That'll be all, Miss Potts."

He jogged down the stairs ahead of Rhodey. Pepper dragged her favorite chair into a better position—facing the main window with the main stairs at her peripheral.

Jarvis activated the Heads Up Display as Tony suited up.

"Pepper?"

She smiled and opened up her laptop. "Yes, Tony?"

Though she could only see a display of the shop with an overlaying topographic map and a connection to ATC showing current flight paths, Pepper swore she could see the reflection of Tony's grinning face overlaying everything.

"Reschedule that R&D meeting for five. At the earliest."

Pepper grinned and watched him rocket out of the garage with Rhodey right behind him. "You've got it, hon."

"Hon?!" Tony howled with laughter. "Hey, Rhodey! I got my first real pet name!"

The silver and black War Machine to his right sped up to pass him with almost a smug gleam in the bright eye slits.

"Shut up, you're spoiling my fun," he joked.

**TBC**


	35. Chapter 35

_Author's Note: I apologize for the lengthy wait for a new chapter. Thank you all for your reviews and support in this unseemly hiatus. I feel like I don't deserve such kindness. Here are my excuses:Graduating college and trying to find a job took priority for a while, but seeing as unemployment left me we an abundance of free time I was able to finish this in the time after graduation. So, here I sit with my Bachelor's degree: Unemployed, a true starving artist, broke, and trying to make some people happy with my writing. I've finished this story completely. I'll upload the chapters in a timely fashion (like, every other day) and plan on working on the 100 and 200 themes from now until I get hit with another "epically long" fic idea.  
Enjoy! And, as always, remember to review. Or don't. Just have fun reading. :D -Jenn (AKA Quicksilvermad)_

_

* * *

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**Chapter Thirty-Five**

Pepper scrolled through the shipping manifestos a third time and worriedly placed a hand on her earpiece. "Tony, I've got some bad news."

She could hear the roar of rushing air as he replied. "Lay it on me."

"I was checking the shipment lists and found one sent somewhere in Tadzhik."

"Soviet Socialist Republic… The part of China that connects with the Wakhan Corridor in Afghanistan."

"Yes, thank you for the geography lesson, Rhodey—I already knew that."

Pepper winced. "Tony…"

"So this is a bigger problem than you thought it was, huh Jim?"

The line crackled with static at Rhodes sighed. "Apparently so."

Pepper interrupted. "Boys. Enough. Let's focus—Rhodey, were you able to find out precise coordinates or what?"

"We were going on the last known point of contact."

Tony sighed. "So it would be safe to assume they're close to that border."

Pepper nodded, then felt foolish for doing so when he couldn't see her. "Right."

Tony cleared his throat and kicked in the throttle a bit more. "Jarvis, when we're in range, give me a visual on any SI microchip signals you can detect."

_"Certainly, sir."_

Tony turned his golden mask to see how Rhodey was fairing. The new silver and black War Machine armor flew alongside him as if his friend had been using the technology since Tony invented it. "How you doing?" he asked.

"Fantastic!" Rhodey exclaimed.

"You remember how to work the repulsors?"

"Yes, Tony, I remember. But you did stick a mini gun in the shoulder, so…"

"Among other toys," Tony grinned, and (back in Malibu) Pepper frowned with worry.

She cued up a map on the window screen and cleared her throat. "Just east of the borders is a large area of uninhabited land."

Tony had Jarvis show him on the HUD what Pepper was looking at. "Base command, would that be your suggestion that we check it out?"

"Help the soldiers in the mountains first. And be careful."

"Aren't I always?" "No," Jim interrupted.

"He's right," said Pepper.

"Whatever. Jarvis, any signals yet?"

_"I have over sixty-five microchip signals coming in."_

"Any that haven't got my approval coding?"

_"Roughly two thirds."_

Rhodes shifted in his flight path to look at the red and golden armor to his left. "Approval coding, Tony?"

"Something me and the boys in R&D came up with. We sent out approval codes along with military shipments to be activated when received. So the weapons with chips that  
have the approval coding are military and the ones _not _approved—the shipments Stane made—are terrorists. Or radical fascist leaders. Whatever. They're not the good guys."

"How is it I didn't know about this stuff?" Rhodes asked.

Pepper sipped at her orange juice and tried to relax. She could see mountains looming and geared herself for the worst.

"Not now, Rhodey—we've got incoming. RPGs coming in hot!"

Pepper had to literally bite her tongue to keep from crying out as Tony extended his right hand and shot down one RPG with a repulsor beam. The explosion shook him off  
course enough that he lost visual of Rhodey.

"Jim?"

"Holy_ shit."_

"James!"  
"Sorry, Pep. Doin' okay—just had five years of my life scared outta me."

She didn't have time to respond in kind as another grenade hit the sensors. "Tony, eleven o'clock!"

"Got it!" he shouted in her ear and blasted the RPG out of the sky. "Look alive, Colonel—on your six!"

Rhodey dove, twisted midair, and shot down the RPG that was right behind him. "Any others?"

Pepper scanned Tony's HUD—catching anything he missed. "Negative. Keep heading west."

As Tony made sure Rhodes was back by his side, he tried to swallow the nervous clog in his throat. "How are you doing, Pepper?" he asked.

She closed her eyes and clamped her teeth on her lower lip.

"Pepper?"

"I'll do better once this is over with. Your microchip signals are coming in stronger."

"Got it."

She watched with apprehension as Tony and Rhodey closed in on a group of soldiers under heavy enemy fire. The War Machine armor slowed to a decent pause midair and Rhodes activated the controls for the mini gun and aimed at the snipers that had half the group pinned in a low-cover fox hole. He clenched his armored fist and fired a quick burst—obliterating the opposition.

Tony quickly blew up five of his old Spartan missiles and was gobsmacked to see how many Jericho grade weapons were on the iwrong/i side of things. "Shit—Pepper, how many of these did Stane sell in Western Asia?"

Pepper was a bit thrown by the sight of orange flames overtaking the main window. "Um…"

"Pepper!"

Jolted, the redhead checked her Blackberry. "There are sixty shipments listed. Jesus," she whispered.

She had to look away as Tony destroyed more of the high-powered weaponry and Rhodey took out foot soldiers.

Even though she had worked for a weapons designer for most of her professional career, Pepper Potts still had trouble with the idea of _using_ those weapons.  
Tony landed in front of the pinned soldiers and served as Rhodey's backup for any missed hostiles. Behind him, the American soldiers started cheering. Pepper couldn't make out any distinct words they were saying, but the visual was enough to make her realize just how much what Tony was doing meant to _others_ Especially the military—despite his new stance against weaponry.

She continued to clench her hands nervously around her Blackberry and scan the mapped area in the top right corner of Tony's view screen. There was something that caught her eye…

"Jarvis? Could you zoom in on the map of the wasteland?"  
_  
"Certainly, Miss Potts."_

"See something, base camp?" Tony asked.

She squinted at the blurry circles and it clicked. This was familiar—she'd seen the symbol before on a red flag behind men with guns and masks and… "Tony, I think this is related to your…" her throat caught, "Those men, the Ten Rings…"

He brought the map Pepper was looking at into his main focus as Rhodey landed (roughly) by his side.

"No sign of any more hostiles," he announced. "What's Pepper see?"

"This is in that eastern wasteland, Pepper?" Tony asked.

"Yes."

There was a pause that Pepper did not like. He was considering flying over there and doing something stupid—the sort of pause that used to have morning hangover cures as consequences but now consisted of ice packs and soaks in the hot tub.

"Whatever you're thinking, Tony, _wait._ We need to tell SHIELD about this first. Besides, you're due for that R&D meeting."

She heard him sigh.

"Unscathed, showered, cleaned up, and ready to help Stephen pitch your engine idea."

"Fine."

He sounded like a little boy as he said it.

"I'll get your notes all set up and meet you at the office," said Pepper.

"Got it."

Pepper let out a heavy sigh and disconnected the communication link. "Jarvis, I'll be heading out to the office—can you link up with my car just in case Tony has a crisis?"

_"Of course, Miss Potts."_

Pepper quickly ran upstairs to the spare room and changed out of Tony's clothes and into one of her more casual violet-colored jersey knit dresses. After tossing the T-shirt and boxers onto Tony's bed and gathering up his engineering notes, Pepper shoved her feet in a pair of wooden heeled wedges and sprinted out to her car.

She checked her rearview mirror automatically and grinned as a previously unnoticed button was lit up much like HAL-9000 from 2001: A Space Odyssey. "Jarvis, that wouldn't happen to be Tony's idea of a joke, would it?"

_"I assure you, madam, I had nothing to do with the design."  
_  
"Just don't start singing 'Daisy' or anything," Pepper grinned and started out of the driveway. "What's Tony's ETA?"

_"Mr. Stark will be arriving in Malibu in roughly two and a half hours. Will you be requiring any assistance in organizing the engineering notes?"  
_  
At a red light, Pepper checked her Blackberry and the notes Tony scribbled on napkins and the back of her TV Guide. "I think I've got it covered, Jarvis," Pepper said. She drove in silence to the office, had Jarvis reconnect to her Bluetooth earbud, and walked purposefully toward Tony's empty office.

"Janine, is the research and development team ready for the meeting?" she asked the receptionist.

"Mr. Crane came in earlier, so I had him head on into Mr. Stark's office."

"Thank you, Janine."

Pepper organized the notes and headed into the copy room to add a bit of order to things. After some time, Pepper finally had a stack of notes and sketches that she quickly used the comb binder to group together. Knowing how Janine liked flipping through Tony's drawings, Pepper returned to reception and handed her the booklet of notes.  
"It always blows my mind how fast you do that," the brunette commented and ran the pads of her fingers across the open container of pink moistening stuff she always used (it was far more sanitary than licking one's fingers) to flick through the pages.

Janine watched Pepper converse with Jarvis for at least three minutes before she was connected to Tony's helmet.

"...No, Tony, it would be better if you— Stop interrupting. If you don't get cleaned up before you come in, you'll stink the whole office up and—"

The front door popped open and Pepper's conversation was cut off as the man himself disconnected his helmet and propped it under one arm to remove his gloves. "Too late, Pep."

Her shoulders sagged. "Tony, you're soaked."

"Are those bullet holes?" Janine asked.

"Yes and yes. Pep, I wanna get started."

She took the gloves and helmet from him and kept in step as he plowed into his own office.

* * *

**TBC**


	36. Chapter 36

**Chapter Thirty-Six**

Pepper managed to persuade Tony into at least changing into a pair of clean jeans and helped him take off his armor in the adjoining bathroom in his office. Stephen was too absorbed in sketching car designs on his tablet laptop to even notice the change when Tony reemerged. Pepper was adjusting the brace on the arm rig when he finally did look up.

"Wicked," Stephen observed.

"It's an early propulsion module I came up with when I was designing the Iron Man suit—"

Pepper finished tightening him up and looked closer at the circuitry. "Wait, is this that thing that threw you across the garage?"

"Yes, it is."

"You aren't going to demonstrate with this, are you?" Pepper asked, her hand tight around his left wrist. His face was relaxed, but she could see bruises starting against his chin and when changing she'd held her tongue at the multitude of reddish-purple marks deepening across his back and chest. The suit still needed work with impact resistance, apparently.

"As a matter of fact—"

"Ugh, nevermind. Just don't break any bones."

They started walking out of the office. Janine offered her usual smile to Tony as he slid past her and her usual sympathetic half-smile to Pepper as the redhead trailed behind.

"Janine, you can take off in ninety minutes, okay? Take messages and change the voice mail announcement to include tomorrow's board of director's meeting in the New York offices."

"Sure thing, Miss Potts," Janine already had the phone in her hand and started dialing in to system maintenance. Down the long hallway that lead to section nine, Tony cupped a hand to his mouth and shouted back at the young woman.

_"Thanks, Janine!"_

She had to hang up the phone and start all over when she snorted a laugh in mid-sentence.

Pepper tugged her hair back into a low ponytail and followed Tony into the cluttered Research and Development lab near section two. She stood in the back of the room and watched as Tony broke down the mechanics of how the arc reactor functioned, how to take the energy of the repulsor blast to power an engine, and how to keep the reactor itself safe from tampering by inexperienced mechanics or "crazy people who wanna use it for horrible stuff" (his words exactly). By the end of it all, his bruises were almost black against his paling skin and Pepper could tell something was wrong. "Gentlemen," she said and stepped in just in time to grab Tony out of what looked like a long scientific discussion that would have kept him there all night, "Mr. Stark has had a long day and I'd like to make sure he'll be ready for tomorrow's board of director's meeting in one piece so if you don't mind..."

They smiled, shook Tony's hand and went about dissecting the repulsor array he'd disconnected from his chest. Pepper masked her impatience with a thin smile and ushered Tony towards the garage with a hand on his back. She could feel the cold sweat he'd built up through his thin T-shirt and worried at the thin tremor that snuck down his spine.

"You okay?" she asked once they were out of earshot.

"Chest hurts. Think I overdid it."

Her eyes snapped to his increasingly paling face and she bit back the "I told you so" comment she'd been saving up. "I think you're right."

Tony closed his eyes and let himself drift off when Pepper buckled him into the passenger seat of her car. Scared, the redhead pressed her ear to his chest and listened to the hum of the arc reactor and the unsteady throbbing beat of Tony Stark's heart. She wanted to take him to a doctor but wasn't sure what good that would do.

So, she sat in her car and had Jarvis call her mother.

* * *

Tony was settled in on the sofa with a mug of chamomile tea (which he hated) and looking like he'd been desaturated in Photoshop when Georgia Potts suddenly appeared within his field of vision and pressed a mothering hand to his forehead.

"What in the hell did you do to yourself, son?"

"Mom!"

"Ginny, he needs a doctor!"

Tony cleared his throat and set the mug of tea on the petrified stump. "Georgia, all I need is a decent night's sleep and some aspirin—"

"Anthony, when was the last time you ate? Slept more than four hours and not just as a nap?"

As Tony considered how he would answer Georgia, Pepper snuck off to the kitchen and grabbed a bottle of Bayer aspirin and a Perrier. She cracked open the sparkling water on her way back into the den and counted out two pills into her palm. Ignoring her mother's piercing eyes, Pepper forced both into Tony's hands. "You're taking a Demerol, too. Your hand has to be hurting right now."

Georgia watched her daughter stalk off in the direction of the main bedroom and turned back to the weary-looking billionaire still seated across from her. "What's wrong with your hand?"

Tony waited until the flavor of uncoated aspirin cleared the back of his tongue before he answered. "Just a couple of cracked bones. It isn't anything serious."

"You do realize you're telling me it's 'nothing serious' and you're almost completely _covered_ in bruises, don't you?" Georgia asked. She forced the mug of tea back into his hands.

"And drink up. Chamomile does wonders for a weary mind."

He never did answer her question—or ask if she meant it rhetorically or literally. In any case, he finished the drink, was given a dose of Demerol and helped upstairs into Pepper's bedroom (he insisted her mattress was more comfortable than his own) where the combination of hot tea, pain killers, and bone weary tire finally won out and settled him in a deep sleep.

Pepper gently traced the edges of the arc reactor as Tony drifted off. The angry red inflammation was slightly worsened after his mission. Rhodes had left a message with Janine about the War Machine armor and how it "chafed," but Pepper didn't think Rhodey had much room to complain when Tony's own armor not only "chafed" but put more stress on his heart. She wondered if Tony himself realized that. "Ginny?"

Pepper was startled enough that she actually jumped at the sound of her mother's voice. "Mom?"

Georgia slid beside her and rested one arm around her shoulders. They spent a long while looking down at Tony as he slept with one arm shoved beneath a pillow and the other flung above his head. His hurt fingers were curled in relaxation against the cushioned headboard. "You takin' care of him, honey?"

"I'm trying, Mom."

Pepper leaned down against Tony's chest and listened to him breathe. Her mother pried her shoes off and did the same for Tony. The lights were already out in the room but the light from the pulsing arc reactor cast shadows about the walls—soft edged shoulders and elbows slowly moving in a deep rhythm. Georgia took on more long look at her daughter and the man who brought that her little girl out of her shell and helped her turn into such a strong woman.

"Sweet dreams, Virginia."

The shadows on the wall shifted as she let herself out and Pepper Potts slowly fell asleep in Tony's arms. She'd worry about the board of director's meeting tomorrow. At the moment all she could think of was how Tony's heartbeat sounded stronger as she drifted off to sleep.

* * *

**TBC**


	37. Chapter 37

**Chapter Thirty-Seven**

Tony woke up feeling like he'd been stretched on a rack the day before. His ribs ached, his jaw was tender and he still felt an uncomfortable stinging in his chest when he took a deep breath. It didn't help at all that he was nervous about the board of director's meeting. He'd asked Pepper if she was comfortable with his decision during their little horror movie night and she'd been apprehensive. Hell, so was he.

There was singing coming from the shower.

The lyrics were muffled, but it sounded a lot like Pepper was singing along to Journey's "Midnight Train." Not too well, but it was pretty damn cute. He clasped his hands behind his back and walked in on his girlfriend rinsing conditioner out of her hair.

"_Strangers waiting... Up and down the bouleva-aaa-aard. Their shadows, searching in the nii-iii-iight..."_

Tony yanked his pants and boxers off and snuck in behind her. "You kinda off key there, sweetheart."

"_JESUS!" _Pepper actually screamed, grabbed a loofah from the shower caddy and chucked it at Tony's face with speed usually reserved for the baseball field. Tony shrieked manfully, backed up against the opposite wall and watched Pepper's naked body jiggle. He couldn't help it. She was naked and he was a man. Journey played on in complete disregard of the moment.

"Don't scare me like that!" Pepper shouted and jabbed a finger at his nose. Tony was too distracted by her other parts to really feel scolded at all. She kept on slapping his bare shoulder and all Tony could say was:

"You have this cute birthmark on your waist," he trailed his finger below her navel.

"Tony!"

"What? You do. And those cute freckles on your shoulders..." he tugged her against him and kissed those freckles. Pepper fought it but eventually gave in to the smile that was threatening.

"The lost puppy face you make is cute," Pepper admitted. She ran her hand over his lower back and frowned against his skin. "I don't like seeing you hurting like this."

Tony didn't have anything to say to make her feel better. He tightened his embrace instead.

"That first night when I walked in on the robots trying to pull you out of the armor? I was _so_ scared."

Words were stuck in his throat and his hand cradled the back of her head. He pulled back just far enough to give her a sincere (if slightly cross-eyed) stare. "Can I say that I'm sorry for scaring you? Not just then—all the other times I've been a reason for you to be scared. Even just a few seconds ago when I snuck in here with you."

"You can apologize all you want."

"And you'll believe me?"

Pepper leaned in and pressed her closed lips against his. She leaned away and caressed his cheek. "I believe you, Tony."

He felt better. Much better than he had in a long time. "I don't enjoy making you worry, you know?"

"I do."

Tony returned her chaste kiss and reached behind her to shut off the water. "We've got a board of director's meeting today to appoint the Stark Industries CEO replacement."

Pepper grabbed two towels and wrapped one around her body. She threw the other at Tony.

"I'm surprised you remembered what it was for," she teased.

"Well, it is an important decision."

She caught the look he gave her just before he concentrated on wrapping the towel around his hips. "You're thinking of appointing me?"

"You're already overseeing the business Stane did. You know this company almost better than I do, and I'd feel better knowing that someone I can fully trust is running things."

Pepper started running a comb through her hair to work out tangles and tried to think of calm words to express what she was feeling.

"The public won't like this. Rather, they'll see me in a position of power and assume I—"

"Not if we emphasize that you're a business savvy, brilliant. strong woman who can run Stark Industries if anything happens to me. I read the press statements you made," said Tony. He tried to find her eyes in the mirror, but she was busy putting on her eyeliner. "You saved the company."

"Tony—"

"No, Pepper, if you hadn't called that first press conference while I was... Gone... SI would be belly up and I would have come home to nothing or not come home at all. Stane would have bought everyone out and gained control, stolen all my ideas, and called off the search for me in the first place. Pepper, without you I would be dead."

He wrapped one arm around her shoulders and collarbone and pulled her body against his. The ring of metal around the arc reactor dug against her spine, but Pepper felt numb. She had not considered the consequences of her actions the day she stepped behind the podium after Obadiah Stane and gave that off-the-cuff speech about the strength of Tony Stark's mind and soul. Stane rebuked her for it as soon as she finished responding to questions from the reporters, but the next day's stock report changed his mood.

"You're right," Pepper finally agreed.

"But you're still scared, huh?"

She nodded at his reflection.

"I'm not," he leaned in close and kissed the soft skin just below her jawline. "You're the only one who can do this, Pep. You know why? Back when I was in that cave I could only think of one reason to work hard enough to escape and that was reason was _you._ Sounds corny, huh?"

Pepper shook her head and closed her eyes. "A little."

"Corny means it's true."

She gave a short laugh and swiped at an escaping tear. Her eyeliner was ruined. "Okay, Tony."

He turned her around and planted a brisk kiss on her mouth—pulling back from her with a wide grin that hadn't been seen often enough lately. "Fantastic!" he exclaimed.

"It's settled. Now go change into a suit and get out of here so I can get ready," Pepper ordered.

As he trotted out of the bathroom suite in just a towel, Pepper shouted after him. "And wear a dark red tie with a white shirt today!"

* * *

New York was in the midst of a nasty traffic (thanks to some construction being done after two huge mutated "hulks" fought it out there) and the ride from the airport to Fifth Avenue was practically torturous. But Pepper was too busy looking over speech notes and possible "question/answer" index cards to notice everything crumbled around them.

She remained in this sort of daze through the first half of the meeting and made herself look busy by taking notes on _other _questions she might be asked. Pepper didn't notice how long it took to get to the topic of a new CEO but felt Tony stand up from his chair beside hers.

"As a matter of fact, I do have someone in mind to serve as CEO of Stark Industries," Tony smiled tightly at the man his father hired so many years ago. He vaguely remembered meeting him when he was a child—and, as a natural reflex since the betrayal of Obadiah Stane—Tony was slow to retain the trust he once had of his father's old friends.

Pepper tensed in preparation for a preconceived reaction to Tony's next declaration.

"I move that Virginia Potts be appointed CEO. Miss Potts is more than capable of handling the position on Chief Executive Officer. She has three business degrees and knows the company better than I do."

A sort of strained quiet fell on the boardroom.

"While I realize this decision is controversial—"

"No, Mr. Stark," a new voice spoke from the far left corner of the table from a brunette, in a suit Pepper also owned, wearing rectangular black-framed glasses, "I agree with your motion."

Before the rest of the board of directors could say anything, the brunette stood up. "My name is Jennifer Walters, I'm a lawyer for SHIELD. We have done an extensive background check on, well, everyone in this room, and as far as SHIELD having further business relations with Stark Industries... Well, Miss Potts' hands are by far the most capable."

She eased back into her chair and motioned for Tony or Pepper to say something. Pepper nervously cleared her throat and stood up. "Gentlemen, I can understand if you have reservations about appointing me as Stark Industries CEO. However, in Mr. Stark's absence during his ordeal in Afghanistan, you'll remember that I was the one who fielded the press inquiries and kept the staff moral from falling apart."

One of Howard Stark's oldest friends—a man Tony had spent many holidays with after his parents were killed—nodded at her statement. "Miss Potts is right. We were falling until she stepped in and gave the press a statement. I second your motion, Tony."

An hour later, Pepper Potts had new paperwork designating her rank in the company and her considerable pay raise. The room of stuffy old men dispersed and left Tony with Pepper and the mysterious Jennifer Walters.

"I'm not just here to offer SHIELD's opinion on your company matters, Mr. Stark. Because of recent activity in the Avengers Initiative we feel you will be in need of a new PA. Mostly for your safety."

Tony leaned his hip against the long desk and crossed his arms. "My safety?"

"We're aware that you train with your driver, Harold Hogan, however... Colonel Fury wants to include Natasha Romanoff as part of your security detail," Walters handed him a dossier on Romanoff and Tony flicked through the pages with a slight frown.

"Code name 'Black Widow?' What is this?"

Jennifer smiled but it never reached her dark brown eyes. "You're aware of General Ross' super soldier operative, correct?"

"Yeah huh."

"We're still searching for Steve Rogers, but in the mean time we've been trying to perfect our own."

"Bruce Banner," Pepper whispered.

Jennifer Walters' smile finally reached her eyes. "Bruce is my cousin. In order to try and understand what went wrong with his attempts I conducted my own investigation of the lab accident and, well... Let's just say I have learned to keep a lid on my own temper, shall we?"

Tony unabashedly stared at her. "What does this have to do with Ms. Romanoff?"

"That, I'm afraid, is still far above your security clearance. I can tell you that she's more equipped to deal with the likes of Obadiah Stane than even I am."

Pepper thought the file photo of the redhead gave the impression the woman was 95 pounds soaking wet and could do more damage to a credit card bill than another human being, but in this day and age one shouldn't judge like that. After all, people often thought she couldn't defend herself but after a few sessions in the gym with Happy and Tony, Pepper wasn't exactly the first person you'd want to scuffle with. Perhaps upon meeting Natasha, Pepper would feel better about Tony's well-being.

"And what of the base we saw in the eastern wasteland of the Wakhan Corridor? Can Colonel Fury confirm that it belongs to the Ten Rings?" Pepper asked.

Jennifer rifled through her briefcase again and produced a red envelope. "Indeed, it does, Miss Potts. In fact, SHIELD has been looking for this base of operations for some time now. Colonel Fury wants some reconnoissance done of the area—he thinks it's where the Mandarin could be camping out."

Pepper sat on the edge of the conference table and let Tony read the red dossier over her shoulder. "The 'Mandarin' being the leader of the Ten Rings, correct?"

"He is. And Colonel Fury's Avengers Initiative is what could bring him down. We just need more members."

"Besides me, you, and..." Tony trailed off deliberately and gave Jennifer the chance to fill him in on other members that SHIELD already recruited.

"Your friend Reed Richards and his little group and Black Widow. Colonel Fury was hoping you could help out with convincing General Ross to reduce the military scrutiny on Bruce. Fury thinks that Bruce will come around once he's got the General off his back and he's heard that I'm with SHIELD. Actually, General Ross was sighted at a bar a few blocks from here."

Tony raised an eyebrow. "You want me to convince Ross to quit hunting the Hulk? That dude hates me right now for cutting off weapons production."

"Put more faith in your persuasiveness, Mr. Stark. Just get him hooked and have him get in touch with Colonel Fury for further instructions. You two have a press statement to give, don't you?" Jennifer scooped up all the files and started walking towards the door. "Natasha will be waiting for you in the press room and is flying back to California with you. She's been set up in a home near your mansion in Malibu. Mr. Stark, I will accompany you to see General Ross and Ms. Romanoff will drive Miss Potts to the airport once she's done with the press."

Things blurred from then on. Pepper listened as Tony announced her as the new CEO, smiled softly at the gobsmacked crowd of reporters, and stepped up to the mic to say her piece before she had to face the questions. Tony reluctantly faded behind her with Jennifer Walters, and the slim woman with dark red hair moved closer to Pepper as they left.

* * *

"I'm sure many of you remember the last few times I held press conferences for the interest of Stark Industries and Tony himself. They were not pleasant, nor were they easy. None of us knew if he had survived the attack on the convoy or not and I knew that if I didn't step forward and give that small bit of hope that one of the most brilliant minds of our time was still alive then Howard Stark's original vision for Stark Industries would be lost. The accomplishments of Howard and Anthony Stark certainly brought the company to the place it is today and I have no intention of breaking free of a tradition that worked so well. Stark Industries is about growth of mind and culture—conservation and healthy living are more important than they ever were and I intend to continue promoting this in our United States.

"Mr. Stark has already introduced Intelli-Crops to many of our world's impoverished nations and has been working on his own to remove illegally obtained weapons in terrorist factions. We are moving towards peace and plan on making this world a safer place for our children and the years that follow. As of this moment, I am pleased to announce that the Stark Industries research and development department is working on a cost efficient replacement for fossil fuels to bring us fully into the twenty-first century."

Pepper finally paused. Her eyes had been roaming about the room and meeting the gaze of as many individual reporters as she could and they landed on a familiar face at the very back of the room. At least six yards away. _Christine Everhart._ With a strange feeling of bravery pooling into her gut, Pepper smiled softly and returned her eyes to the other reporters.

She could feel Natasha behind her—strong and protective just in case things got out of control.

"I'll take any questions now."

She spent almost a solid hour taking questions and was relieved when very few of them dealt with her relationship with Tony. Most were asking if she was planning a "green" overhaul of Stark Industries and seeing if they could sneak out some details on the alternative fuel source. Pepper caught Christine's eye one last time before taking her final question and was surprised by the genuine smile on the woman's face.

"One more question, then I'm afraid I have to catch a plane," Pepper said and scanned the crowd before her for a hand she had not yet pointed to. She vaguely remembered the reporter's face from earlier press conferences and was able to put a name with the face. "Connor Austen from the _Daily Bugle._"

The young man stood and held a digital recorder aloft. "I was wondering, Miss Potts, if your new promotion to CEO had anything to do with the affair you are engaged in with Tony Stark?"

Pepper's face hardened. She had been expecting it, dreading it, and preparing for it to be said, but it still hurt. Natasha started to move in and end the questioning but Pepper flattened her hand behind the podium in that universal "stop" position.

"My new position as CEO of Stark Industries happens to be due to the fact that I know this company better than any of the staff and I have its best interests in mind. It has nothing to do with my personal relationship with Mr. Stark. That's the last question I'll take today. I'd like to thank you all for coming here," Pepper responded as quickly as possible and backed away from the mic. She did the usual "smile and wave" routine for still cameras and the video crews and allowed Ms. Romanoff to lead her into the lobby and out where the car idled by the curb.

Natasha opened the back door and smiled at Pepper. "I can already tell I'm going to like my new assignment," she admitted. Her voice was deep and thinly tinted with a Russian accent.

The stress of the press conference seemed to ooze away as this woman smiled at her, and Pepper shook her hand impulsively before she slid into the back seat of the car. Natasha got settled in the driver's seat and checked her mirrors before almost violently pulling out into traffic.

Pepper smothered a laugh as she was reminded of her own driving habits.

"Do you want to make any stops before we get to the airport, Miss Potts?"

"No, I'm fine. And call me Pepper, Ms. Romanoff."

Natasha smiled into the rearview mirror. "Call me Natasha, Pepper."

"I can already tell I'm going to like having you around, Natasha."

They agreed on a classic rock station and sang along with the better songs all the way to the airport.


	38. Chapter 38

_Author's Note: Before I go see the movie at midnight (in the IMAX Experience—__OMFG__) I decided to upload the next chapter before I finish up to chapter forty. Believe it or not, I do have a grand scheme for all of this.

* * *

_

**Chapter Thirty-Eight**

At eight AM on Wednesday morning Natasha Romanoff walked into the Malibu mansion with a stack of files balanced under one arm and a briefcase and coffee (just hers). She was greeted by Tony Stark's AI and directed to the kitchen. The man himself was curled over a bowl of Cocoa Puffs and still in his pajama pants with the beginnings of some epic bed head. She spied a pillow crease indented in his cheek.

"Good morning, Mr. Stark," she greeted.

"Ms. Romanoff," he returned. "What's on my agenda for the day?"

"You need to make a perfunctory appearance at the office to 'pass the torch' on to Miss Potts, then Colonel Fury needs to speak with you regarding the information you and Lieutenant Colonel Rhodes gathered in your last impromptu mission. He thought you'd like meeting at a diner up the road around lunch time."

He straightened his spine and looked up from his Cocoa Puffs.

"You mean he's not breaking into my house again?"

Natasha smirked and handed him the stack of files. "I made him swear on the Bible not to do that."

"I appreciate that—what are you handing me?"

"Jennifer showed these to you yesterday. I thought you'd like your own copies to study."

"You thought correctly. Is yours in here?" he asked.

Natasha propped the briefcase on the center island and unlocked it. "I wrote some personal notes along with your recruitment specifications. My file is sealed, but I felt the need to inform you of some of my personal history and position within SHIELD," she smiled and handed him some handwritten notes on a yellow legal pad. "But at the moment your focus is stopping by the office."

She hadn't counted on Tony being a speed reader. "Advanced combat and espionage training, huh?"

"Yes. Get dressed or I'll beat you up."

* * *

Dressed in a suit without a tie (he couldn't be bothered to pick one out), Tony accepted Natasha's offer to drive him to both "appointments" mostly for the chance to read through her notes on her own history in more detail.

She scribbled in the margins of the legal pad about things she'd had done to her when she was working as a Soviet spy during the Cold War. Slowed aging and an enhanced immune system were part of the biotechnology the Soviets tested on her and several other "Black Widows" that she knew of. The only other bit of personal information she gave was her childhood rescue from Nazis by Captain America and some guy named Logan and the fact that her parents died in a fire in Stalingrad. Natasha's notes were a bit vague on how she defected to the States and started working for SHIELD.

Her handwriting was almost worse than his.

"So, what do I call you? Miss Romanoff, Natasha, Tasha, Nat? Black Widow?" he finally asked.

"I go by 'Tasha' sometimes. You aren't going to ask how old I am, are you?"

"I know not to ask a woman that question, Natasha," Tony said to her reflection in the rear view mirror.

"Smart man," she said.

"Most of the time," Tony grumbled.

Natasha eased the Phantom into the parking lane at the front office of Stark Indusries and was surprised when Tony exited the vehicle before she could open his door.

Happy was chatting with Janine as Stark and Natasha entered the building. Tony immediately smiled and clapped the older man on the shoulder. "How was driving the new boss, Happy?"

Hogan grinned. "It's a shorter drive, sir."

Janine popped up over Hogan's shoulder. "Pepper's in Sta—I mean—her office at the moment, Mr. Stark. Should I page her?" she asked.

"Nah, I'll go see her. Happy, this is Natasha Romanoff. Natasha, this is Harold Hogan. Have fun getting acquainted."

With that loose introduction, Tony loped up the stairs to Stane's old office in search of the new CEO. The doors—always closed when Obadiah Stane had the room—were wide open and the sunlight of mid-morning lit up the back of Pepper's head with that glow that turned her hair into strands of gold. She wore her hair down entirely and had on a dress he'd never seen her wear before—a light grey sheath with cap sleeves finished off with another pair of ridiculously tall heels.

Tony cleared his throat and jammed his hands in his pockets. "Nice office, huh?"

Her face perked up at the sight of him. "There's almost too much room. And I only had time to grab a couple of photos this morning."

"Really? I've got a Pollock in storage that would look great in here."

Pepper cast her mind back to her last birthday and smiled. In the silence of the moment she felt the need to ask him something that had bothered her from the night before when they'd parted at the airfield and he had Natasha drive her home. "Tony, did you sleep okay?"

He didn't want to lie to her. But he also didn't want her to worry. Since his face was an open book to Pepper, she knew exactly how poorly Tony's night went. "Why didn't you call me?" she asked and stepped in closer to him.

Tony shrugged and leaned his face into her hand. Lips pursed, he reached up and smoothed her hair behind one ear. "I wanted you to have a good first day as the Big Kahuna here at Stark Industries. Not worrying. Stuff like that."

"You're a dope. I always worry about you."

She said it as such a matter of fact that Tony couldn't suppress a laugh. His mirth was interrupted by a surprise kiss from Pepper that lasted no more than a few seconds but brought him back to the real world. He briefly pressed his lips harder against hers and pulled away.

"I'll be okay."

Pepper's eyes moved from his towards the doorway and her smile tightened ever so much. "Hello, Natasha," she greeted.

"Good morning, Pepper," the other redhead greeted. She eased her way into the room, aware of ruining a tender moment but needing to keep Stark on schedule. "Mr. Stark, the press is gathered in the atrium and security has cleared everyone so when you're ready..."

Tony brightened just a bit more and winked at Pepper. "You'll like this. I got you your first CEO stuff," he held out his elbow and waited for her to link arms with him. Pepper shot a curious glance at Natasha and was surprised to see that the other woman was wearing a charcoal pantsuit and had her hair tugged back in a severe bun. She looked a bit like a librarian. Yesterday she'd been an absolute knockout in her tight black skirt and red blouse.

As Tony guided her down the hall toward the sound of murmuring reporters and cameramen, Pepper felt a little bit surreal. Before he opened the door, Tony leaned sideways and kissed her cheek.

"For luck. Shall we?"

Her smile returned. "Absolutely, partner."

Tony grinned—teeth and creased eyes with real happiness in the expression—and opened the doors.

His speech was succinct and to the point and Pepper graciously accepted the palladium nameplate he made for her with "_Virginia Potts, CEO_" carved into one side and "_Pepper Potts, CEO_" carved into the other. Tony said it was for days when she felt like being formal or informal and the reporters ate it up. Pepper tried not to get misty eyed about the whole thing and recited her little acceptance speech.

They posed for a photo op and Tony helped her excuse the room.

Before he left for his lunch with Colonel Fury, Pepper made sure he saw her straighten her new desk with the nameplate displaying "_Pepper Potts, CEO_" to the room.

* * *

**TBC**

_As always, reviews are wonderful motivation. And nice to read. I adore you guys!_


	39. Chapter 39

_AN: Nick Fury is fun to write. _

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**Chapter Thirty-Nine**

Colonel Nick Fury was kind of easy to spot in Val's diner. There weren't too many huge black guys with leather eyepatches around. Apparently Val had warmed up to him enough to break out a midday Miller Lite for him—something she usually kept on hand solely for Tony and Jim. Colonel Fury was also enjoying a hamburger the size of his head.

Tony slid into the stool next to him. "I'll have what he's having," he quipped.

"Iron Man, nice to see you in daylight," Fury snapped right back and motioned for Natasha to join him. "Ms. Romanoff, how is your new assignment going so far?" he asked.

"No one's dead, sir."

"Oh, improved I see."

Tony fiddled with the napkin holder and waited for Val to return with his order. "This is comforting," he mumbled. "Please tell me your last op was killing terrorists or something and not something that involved one person in particular..."

Natasha raised an eyebrow at him.

"Shit."

"Calm down, Stark. Tasha here is assigned to the West Coast to help keep you informed on how SHIELD works and who needs to know what so we can actually do some of that 'super secret hero shit' you mentioned when we first met. For being such a smartass, you're actually pretty good at recruiting," Fury allowed a bit of a grin to warm up his eye. "I mention your name to Reed Richards and he's all for it. And General Ross recently contacted me with his verbal thumbs up."

Val came back from the kitchen with Tony's usual order and grabbed two beers from behind the counter. She paused in front of Natasha when she handed off the bottle. "Want anything to eat, honey?"

"Steak, thick and bloody as hell."

"Atta girl."

"So Reed's in, Betty's dad is in... What now? And what's this stuff about Ten Rings?" Tony asked around a mouthful of cheeseburger.

"Lieutenant Colonel Rhodes has agreed to become part of our military liaison—"

"Wait, so Rhodey is liaising to you guys and to my company? Can he do that?"

"If he can fly around in a suit you designed with a machine gun mounted on his shoulder and he's still a member of the military, he's one of us. By the way, I like the arm-mounted gatling guns on that thing."

"Yeah? I put in a few extra things he'll like when he figures out what they do..."

The two grown men had a moment of child-like glee as Natasha got her steak and rolled her eyes at them. "Intel, Colonel. I believe you wanted to brief Mr. Stark on the full details of Ten Rings," she reminded.

Fury regained his serious face and leaned forward a bit on his stool. "Right. The discovery of the base in the wasteland outside the Wakhan Corridor is the biggest step in taking these guys out. In his insane personal coup on you and Stark Industries, Stane took out one of the cells a man called 'The Mandarin' has been cultivating since before Tasha here was throwing snowballs at her neighbors."

"'The Mandarin?' Seriously?" Tony repeated. "What's his deal? And if you tell me 'take over the world' I may end up doing a spit take," he said and moved to take a drink as if he _dared _Nick Fury to say those seven words that just screamed _Pinky and the Brain_ or something.

"He wants to take over the world," said Fury.

The deadpan look Tony leveled him with was tempered only by a Miller Lite bottle trapped against his lips. There was a slow, awkward moment as he spit the beer back into the bottle and rubbed a knuckle against the end of his nose. Natasha had her back turned to both of them and was shaking. Her hair was up in a ponytail and revealed the red tinge to the tops of her ears.

A snort escaped.

"To be fair, the guy is also a telepath and exhibited signs of telekinesis the last time we managed to catch him on video," Fury clarified.

Tony chewed thoughtfully on a fry and snuck his arm around the counter for a battered tin of Old Bay seasoning. He spoke as he liberally sprinkled his fries. "Okay, I'll buy that. Though I would like to do my own research on him if you've got any medical files. And as for Stane helping Ten Rings become 'Nine' Rings?"

"He did more harm by selling _all _cells your weapons. And yes, we have files you can study."

"I've got something for you, too. I rigged military codes on all the shipments previously handled the proper channels so each fully functional tank, missile or gun in the hands of the good old US of A has a digital authorization signature that activates when scanned by proper shipping and again when the 'safety' is taken off. Seeing as this was something my personal assistant used to set up and not Obi—_Stane_—those unauthorized weapons have faulty signatures. Easy to see when you're looking for them."

Fury looked a little impressed.

Tony tried not to gloat and polished off his burger. "Nat, hand me your phone," he waggled his fingers at her and gave her a happy nod when she fished her iPhone out of her purse. He opened the Stark Industries application and tapped in the 120 character authorization code to pull up a list of shipments that were scanned twice and approved. "There," he showed Fury.

"Very cool, Stark..."

Tony handed Natasha her phone. "Thank you. So what else is up, Colonel?"

"SHIELD needs a few more brains in the Avengers Initiative. We're currently scouting for some more 'members' if you will," he waggled his fingers in air quotes and raised his eyebrow, "and we ran across some interesting things about your old friends Hank and Janet Pym. Have you had any recent contact with them?"

Finishing the last of his huge burger, Tony shook his head and made hand motions that vaguely suggested "too busy" and somehow Nick understood it all.

"Well, they're working on something _very _interesting and I, personally, would like them on the team."

Tony paused him with a waving hand and finished swallowing his bite. "Interesting as in 'honey, I finally shrunk myself?' Because Hank's been chomping at that bit since college. So's Jan."

Fury just smiled.

"Fine. One last question?"

"Shoot."

"Are we building this team just to find Steve Rogers or to thin out some of the Mandarin's 'firepower' while we look for him?"

"Both. Steve Rogers was the symbol of American power and integrity and while I'm certain the combined Avengers could fight the Mandarin, I'm more certain that you could fight and _win _if Captain America was with you."

Tony, having seen Captain America in one old photo with his father, understood the politics of such a plan. Having a group of American superheroes—led by the man who represented the better ideals of the country—was an excellent way to boost the economy. He also happened to kick a lot of Nazi ass. He'd been close to helping America win the war against Hitler when he was lost during a mission that even the top brass in the Pentagon had only bare details about. As in: "I might do something this Thursday. I might not. It's important."

He'd done a fair amount of research on Cap. And had a bit of hero worship when it came to him.

"I should do an aerial search," he mumbled before downing the rest of his beer.

"I'll hold you to that," Colonel Fury checked his watch and stood. "Right now I have a meeting with Dr. Richards and his three friends."

"Tell him I said hi," Tony called over his shoulder as the larger man left the diner.

"You realize he stuck you with the bill, don't you?" Natasha asked, still two stools away and still eating her steak and fries at a leisurely pace.

Tony glanced at the empty plate and beer bottle between them and sighed. "Yeah."

"You've got a budget meeting in an hour."

Tony gave in to the sensation he'd been fighting almost all morning and dropped his forehead hard on the countertop. The noise he made in the back of his throat was downright childish, but all Natasha did was chew her steak and smile.

**TBC

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_Thank you, all for your reviews! I truly appreciate them. That being said, you know the drill. ;D_


	40. Chapter 40

_AN: I suck. To make up for the supreme lateness of this, I give you 3600 some odd words. Hardly enough, I know, but it's leading up to something. And I'm going out of town for the week..._

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**Chapter Forty**

Pepper thought she'd feel overwhelmed. Or that she would, at least, find someone sneering at her in the copy room when she walked in to duplicate the patent office forms that needed signatures (she was so used to doing this that she hadn't even thought of asking _her _new PA, Matt, to do it for her). No sneers. No whispers. She didn't even feel like much had changed at all other than her office.

She even managed to spare time to go downstairs and remind Janine that Tony was expected for the budget meeting at 2PM and to "hustle him upstairs if he's late."

On her way back to her office, her Louboutin heels adding that purposeful strut to her gait that tended to follow Tony around, Pepper realized why things felt so "off."

She forgot to mention the budget meeting to him.

Not thinking it would look good on the first day to start swearing out loud in the middle of the hallway, Pepper sped up and rushed into the washroom attached to her office.

_Then _she started swearing.

"Shit! Shit, shit shitting shitty shit!"

She plonked down onto the closed toilet lid and buried her face in her hands.

There was a knock on the door.

"Ocupado," Pepper grumbled. "Who is it?" she called out a bit louder.

"It's Matt, ma'am... Um, I have coffee."

Pepper took a moment to compose herself and calmly exited the washroom as though nothing happened. "Thank you, Matt," she took the proffered ceramic cup from him and smiled. "So, what else is on the agenda for today besides the budget meeting at two?"

Matt eagerly checked his new Blackberry. "Um, just a check in with R&D and that's it for today. Tomorrow you have a conference call with the overseas branch of SI at three and the paperwork for the patents needs to be ready for the mail. Friday is actually clear, ma'am."

Pepper sipped her coffee and let out a gust of air. He'd actually gotten it right the first try. "Good," she commented. "I've got the paperwork all ready for notes and signatures, so I can knock that out this afternoon."

"Excellent," Matt brightened even more and added this note into scheduling.

He was fresh out of college—one of the lucky few who landed a Stark Industries internship upon graduation. The job was basically an "in" for any other career within the company and Pepper had helped Tony pick Matt out several weeks ago when he'd found time to come out of the workshop and actually eat some real food upstairs with her.

Back when the room she stood in was still heavy with fresh cigar smoke and Obadiah Stane's oppressive self.

Pepper excused Matt with her thanks and returned to the silent refuge of the washroom—this time with coffee.

* * *

Tony was on the highway riding, of all things in his garage, his chopper when Jarvis announced a call coming in through his helmet.

"_Sir, Miss Potts is calling."_

"Answer."

"Tony?"

"Hey, Pep. What's—"

"Where are you?"

Tony wove in-between slower traffic. "Right now? Zooming through a row of deadlocked sedans on the parking lot they call the Pacific Coast Highway. Are you okay? You sound... Off."

"I'm..." she didn't say anything for two exits and now Tony was really worried.

"Exit's comin' up, Pepper, I'll be there in five, okay?"

"Okay."

"Okay," Tony repeated and rumbled off the main highway. The audio in his helmet continued to run until Pepper finally hung up. He was halfway to the main gate when Jarvis confirmed the call termination.

He was more than worried. Something churned in the pit of his stomach that may have been panic, but he wasn't sure he wanted to address it. Instead, he tossed his helmet at Janine when he entered the main office and spared her a sarcastic smile as she squeaked in indignation. Matt caught him in the hallway just as he started up the stairs.

"Miss Potts is in her office, Mr. Stark," he hesitated a moment and addressed what was on his mind. "She was quite upset when I left half an hour ago"

"'Kay, thanks Matt," Tony gently clapped the young man on his back and took the rest of the stairs two at a time.

The office door was shut, but when Tony knocked on it the hinges yielded to his knuckles.

"Pepper?"

The washroom door was closed too. With a deeper frown, Tony closed the office door behind him and thumbed the lock. "Pepper, are you okay?"

The door opened a fraction to let him know she wasn't coming out of the secondary room. He shed his bike jacket and tossed it in on the sofa against the wall perpendicular to the desk and moved to sit against the doorjamb. The carpet he sat on was still thick with the odor of the Macanudo cigars Stane preferred to smoke.

"Pepper, what's wrong?" he asked.

He heard her mumbled something about the budget meeting and sighed. This "talk through the door" thing just wasn't him. Shifting to his knees, Tony turned the knob and raised an expectant eyebrow at his girlfriend. She was crouched in the corner with her skirt rumpled along her thighs and her chin on her knees.

"I had a bit of a panic attack."

"About what?"

"I forgot I wasn't your PA anymore," she shifted a little on her numb rear end and forced herself to meet his eyes. "Tony, I don't know if I can do this."

For a terrible moment, Tony thought she meant _them. _Pepper saw the fear slide through his eyes and shook her head hard enough to dislodge her hair clip.

"_No. _I mean... I don't know if I can do this CEO stuff. I still think like a PA and I've been reading news feeds on my Blackberry about _me_—"

"Pepper," he shuffled into the washroom on his knees and cupped her face in his hands, "I trust you. I have confidence in you. We're partners, remember? You've got Matt to remind you of things that need getting done and I've got Natasha making sure I get to all of my meetings. Instead of driving home with me and spending all night filing stuff and answering emails you have someone else to do it for you. Because you're in charge. You'll be driving home with me to do girlfriend stuff and I'll be driving home with you to do boyfriend stuff."

Pepper let out a breath she felt like she'd been holding all afternoon and leaned her forehead against Tony's. Their noses bumped and Tony smiled before he gently angled his chin to kiss her. He felt her lips curve upward and leaned in closer to bite her lower lip. She did that cute gasping thing and Tony deepened his hold on her.

She tasted like coffee and Splenda. Her hair, loose from its clip, smelled like the new mango shampoo she'd started using. It felt like satin flowing over his fingers.

The moment broke when Pepper shifted to get more comfortable and banged the wall with one of her 4½ inch heels. She cringed and cleared her throat. "We've got that budget meeting. Then I was going to ask you if you wanted to come with me to check in with R&D."

Tony's mouth twitched into a smile—dimples standing out. "You were _gonna_ ask, huh?"

Pepper didn't bother hiding her own grin and swatted his shoulder.

He laughed and helped her off the floor. He took his time straightening her skirt and even rapped his fingertips across her rump in a fast jazz piano bit he'd been working on in some far part of his brain that wasn't occupied by tinkering in the workshop. Pepper swatted at his hand again.

"Right. Budget, R&D, _then _fun stuff," he leered comically at her and led her toward her desk. "Ooo, you wanna ride home on my chopper, sweetheart? _It'll make you purr,"_ he whispered lustily in her ear.

She laughed and gathered the paperwork she needed. "Grab an extra helmet from the garages here and you've got a deal, _stud."_

He watched her fix her hair and stalk beautifully out of the office with no small amount of longing on his face. "And you expect me to pay attention during this budget meeting?" he asked the back of her head.

* * *

He didn't pay attention during the budget meeting.

There were vague impressions of reports and signing endless forms, but Tony's brain was replaying the last images he had of Pepper's bare legs lit by his arc as he ran his hands across her skin to memorize the feel of her. His eyes kept drifting to her calves without his permission. Normally he would joke around with the accounting guys and talk their ears off because he genuinely liked talking to the math experts.

This time, all Tony could think of were Pepper's legs.

She crossed them and tucked her ankles together—sitting like a princess and flicking her pen against the folder of documents her former coworkers (ages ago she recalled working with the four men and two women at the table for about two days before Tony hired her on as his PA) had prepared. They were still talking...

Tony watched her re-cross her legs and actually tipped his head at the action.

Edith, who had been working in accounting at Stark Industries since Tony was nine, smiled at his oblivious face. Pepper saw this and tracked Edith's expression.

"Tony!" she threw her pen at his face.

"Gah!"

Edith smothered a laugh with her PDA and cleared her throat. "Mr. Stark, Miss Potts... If you've approved of all our assessments and projections, I'll let you go," she said once she calmed herself.

Tony stood, pulled Pepper's chair out like a gentleman and smiled guiltily at Edith and her coworkers. "Sorry, Mrs. Ferguson," he held out his hand and gave the back of her hand a kiss like he usually did.

"Nonsense, Mr. Stark. It's good to see you in person again."

He flushed with embarrassment and Edith shared a look with Pepper over his shoulder.

"I'm trying to make a habit of it," Tony admitted.

"See you next quarter, then," said Edith. She waved at Pepper and winked once Tony turned his back completely.

Down the hallway Tony thumbed the elevator button and rubbed his palm against Pepper's lower back. "Well, that was embarrassing."

"You were staring at my legs."

"I still am," he grinned and leered at her calves.

Pepper did that swatting thing again—this time her knuckles rapped against his arc reactor. Immediately, she swung around and pressed her palm over the metal and looked him in the eye. Her mouth popped open to apologize just as the elevator doors opened and Tony took advantage of momentum and the empty space to swoop one hand around the back of Pepper's neck, drag her against his body and kiss her like he'd wanted to do all morning and afternoon.

Pepper matched his fervor and gave a tiny squeak when Tony hooked one of his arms under her bottom and hoisted her up against the handrail at the back of the elevator. For one strange moment she found herself precariously balanced when Tony reached back and hit the button for the basement level then slammed his thumb on the "stop" button. She was almost falling forward when he moved back between her thighs with his mouth on her neck.

Pepper cupped the back of his head and opened her mouth to say something—but what came out of her wasn't anything coherent. Just a garbled string of nonsensical syllables as Tony shifted her blouse off one shoulder and sucked hard on the pale skin revealed.

She threaded her fingers through his hair and kissed his sideburn. In a bit of a haze she managed to realize the time, where they were, and that they should probably stop before she lost higher brain function and suggested he rip her panties off.

Tony pouted when she tugged his head back far enough to catch his eyes. "Meeting. Right?"

Pepper smoothed his hair and straightened the buttons on his navy blue oxford. "Mm-hmm. And considering this is my first day as your business partner..."

Tony grumbled to himself but was courteous enough to help her straighten her appearance before he pressed the "stop" button again. "Later, though..."

"After dinner. I'm making lasagna."

The doors slid open and Tony Stark's smile was blinding. "Can we eat on your porch?"

The request threw her a bit and Tony knew her well enough to interpret her expression. "I like your house. That porch makes me want to eat all kinds of homey food and drink iced tea. It's like Better Homes and Gardens voodoo or something."

"I did brew some iced tea the other day..." Pepper admitted.

"We should contact them and do a spread on your house."

The walk through the hallway to the Research and Development main garage was interrupted by her punctuated laugh. She thought he was kidding. Tony quickly dipped his arm around her waist and pulled her to his side—throwing her walk into all kinds of disarray but letting him physically connect with her so she could _feel _his sincerity.

"I mean it. It's good publicity, too. Letting the rest of the world know that the newest CEO of Stark Industries is just like the rest of the world and likes a covered porch, lilac bushes and that great eucalyptus tree in your backyard."

Pepper relented. "I'll have Matt set it up," she said.

Tony smiled and as they reached the garage he used his keycard and code before Pepper could and held the door open for her.

"Miss Potts," Stephen Crane announced for the rest of the engineers and physicists in the garage. "Mr. Stark—glad you could make it together," he nodded and Pepper, having known Stephen longer than Tony, caught the hidden meaning in his words. She shook his hand and tipped her head at him in the way sister-in-laws are wont to do in the non-verbal form of "you're treating my sister right, but I have no qualms against beating you up if you keep going in that direction you are right now."

"Stephen," Tony intercepted and actually pulled the younger man into a one armed hug. "We're still on for lunch this weekend, right?"

"Absolutely. Now are you ready to see the prototype?"

Pepper was feeling giddy. Not just from the kiss earlier, but from the prospect of signing off on this incredible invention Tony was actually willing to share (for once).

Before them stood ten technicians and Stephen Crane ready to pull a white sheet off the automobile-shaped object at the center of the garage. On the count of three they tugged the sheet back to reveal a silver Audi A3.

"Audi sent us one of their A3's to work with. The vehicle is one of the most family-friendly and fuel efficient of the line. My wife and I have one, actually," Stephen admitted. Pepper remembered seeing it in her sister's garage once. Next to the new Dodge Challenger Caroline owned.

Tony was grinning and running his fingers along the line of the hood. Someone popped the hood and he expertly unlatched it and traced his hand across the covered engine block. Pepper pulled out her "Stark Tech" hand computer and called up the visual specifications of the actual engine. There was no battery, so toxic waste was reduced automatically and the modified miniature arc reactor was connected to a rotary engine and magnetic flywheel that operated the drive train to send power to the rear wheels.

Between Pepper's silent analysis of the overall design and Tony's tactile obsession, someone turned the key and set the reactor into work.

It was _silent._

Normally this would send her into a fit of pouting—as Pepper was a big fan of the rumble a V12 made when you revved the engine. But the lack of exhaust, the knowledge that the arc was self-sufficient and gave off enough energy to power the human heart for over fifty lifetimes (Tony shared that with her during one night of making shadow puppet on the ceiling with his bare chest and her thin fingers) thrilled her to her bones.

Tony was smiling so hard his cheeks hurt. "Have you driven it yet? Please tell me you have..."

Stephen smiled right along with him and dragged him over to see the new gauge console. "Twice around the test track for all of the development team. It runs like... Nothing else. Power distribution is so smooth that you can stop on a dime from ninety to zero. We've had no problems with overheating or mechanical malfunctions because, frankly Tony, your design was flawless."

"This is incredible," Pepper finally said. She felt like she was looking at one of those flying cars the science fiction movies had promised.

"How much did construction cost? More or less than the regular fossil-fuel engine?" Tony asked. Pepper could see how anxious he was to test it himself. She couldn't blame him.

Arthur, one of Tony's hand-picked automotive guru's, finally spoke up. "Long term value really cinches it. Despite the cost of palladium, the owner of an arc vehicle would never need to buy gas or charge up the electronics. It's all done through the miniature reactor."

"So, more," Tony assumed.

Stephen tipped his head and made a face that Pepper had seen Tony make every so often. It was that smile that wasn't really a smile so much as a covered grimace. "It's not exactly cheap."

Tony blinked. "That was... Terrible. Want to try that again?"

"Okay, so it's expensive. But we're working on cost-effectiveness."

"Meaning?" Pepper asked.

"Meaning it's expensive to produce but we're developing ways that are more fiscally sound," said one of the other engineers.

"You mentioned you were 'working' on this," Pepper pointed out. Tony dropped the hood and hopped into the driver's seat as she conversed with Arthur.

He eased the A3 into "reverse" and slammed his foot on the accelerator. The car shot back halfway across the empty garage and he recklessly shifted into "drive" without hitting the brakes. It made no noise other than the harsh squeal of tire on sealed concrete, but the movement felt very familiar... He whooped with laughter and did a quick circuit around the room until he could feel _it _again.

_Flying._

Tony drifted across the back corner of the garage and pulled the handbrake to stop parallel to Pepper and Arthur's feet. He eased out of the vehicle and grabbed Pepper by the elbow. "You gotta try this—where are the patent papers?"

"On my desk. I'll need—"

Tony waited just long enough for her to scoot her left leg into the cab before he shut the door and made pantomime driving motions with his hands. "I'll get Matt to bring 'em down," he assured her.

She argued wordlessly with him for a moment and relented when he bit his lower lip and started pressing his right foot on an invisible gas pedal. Pepper rolled her eyes and shifted her toes against the accelerator. She wasn't expecting the power behind it.

A shouted laugh escaped her before she could smother it and she pulled the vehicle into a tight figure eight. Tony watched her drive circuits around the garage—her hair escaped the loose ponytail it was in for her earlier meetings and the bright copper of it was luminous and bold against her freckled cheek. Strands of it stuck to her lipgloss, but she just laughed harder and twisted the steering wheel.

Tony finished his absent-minded text to Matt for the paperwork and licked his lower lip. Vanilla lipgloss...

Ten minutes later the papers were all signed and Pepper was getting Tony to show off some stunt driving to the R&D guys. Her rough morning had turned into this carefree afternoon. Still smiling, Pepper grabbed one of the motorcycle helmets they had lying around and tucked it under her arm. She was hungry, still slightly turned on, and looking forward to eating a home-cooked dinner in her own home.

Walking back through the main hallway, Pepper caught sight of Tony speaking with Natasha, Matt and Happy. Confident and still feeling a little giddy from her test drive, Pepper slid up beside him and hooked an arm around his waist.

The way he leaned into her felt so automatic that she looked slightly down to find his face.

"So after the conference call at O'Dark Thirty with SI International you two need to make a trip up north to visit Hank and Janet Pym," said Natasha. "I would tag along but I've been ordered to debrief Lieutenant Colonel Rhodes on out current mission."

"Okay," said Tony. His hand tightened on Pepper's waist slightly. "I need to have a word with Colonel Eyepatch on Sunday—is this doable, or is he too busy for little old me?"

Happy snorted and Natasha wasn't above smiling ever-so-slightly at the nickname. "In regards to what, exactly?" she asked.

"I'll know better by Sunday."

With that cryptic answer, Tony grabbed his helmet from Janine and pointed at Matt. "Better Homes and Gardens needs to do a spread on Miss Potts' house. Make it happen."

Matt immediately noted this in his phone and offered a thumbs-up as he typed in information with one hand. "The patent papers are in legal getting notarized, so that has been taken care of a day early, sir."

"Awesome. Ready to go, Pep?"

She held up her helmet and bit her lower lip to temper the smile that warmed her cheeks. "Ready."

* * *

**TBC**


End file.
